Refuse and recycling storage requirements by scheme size

A refuse storage requirement in planning is set by the local planning authority's own waste guidance, usually written by the waste collection team rather than the planning department, and usually not in the local plan. That is why a scheme can satisfy every policy in the plan and still get a holding objection about bins.

The calculation itself is arithmetic. Weekly waste arisings per dwelling in litres, multiplied by the number of dwellings, multiplied by the collection interval in weeks, divided by the container volume, gives the number of containers. The arisings figure comes from the authority's published guidance, and it differs between councils because collection frequencies and container types differ.

Capacity calculated from dwelling numbers

Work the calculation separately for each waste stream the authority collects: residual waste, dry mixed recycling, glass where it is separate, food waste, and garden waste where houses have gardens.

Then add the containers up and give them floor space. The common error is calculating capacity correctly and then drawing a store that fits the bins with no circulation, so the back bin cannot be reached without moving the front three.

Allow for:

• The footprint of each container plus the space to open its lid fully
• A clear access route to every container without moving another
• Manoeuvring space for a 1,100 litre Eurobin, which needs a flat surface and a wide door
• Space for an additional container as occupancy changes
• A separate position for bulky waste awaiting collection

Houses are simpler. Most authorities accept storage within the curtilage, screened from the street, with a hardstanding and a route to the collection point. Flats are where the design work is.

Carry distances for residents and collectors

Two separate distances, and they pull in opposite directions.

The resident carry distance is how far someone walks from their front door to the store. The code of practice on waste management in buildings has long used 30 metres as the figure for this, and most authorities adopt it or something close.

The collection distance is how far an operative drags or wheels a container to the vehicle. This is shorter, commonly between 10 and 25 metres depending on the authority and the container size, because a loaded 1,100 litre bin is heavy and the operatives' employer has duties under health and safety law.

Put both distances on a drawing with the routes marked. It converts an argument into a check.

Collection vehicle access and turning

A refuse vehicle is large, heavy and reluctant to reverse. The design parameters that matter are the swept path, the carriageway width, the turning facility, the overhead clearance and the axle loading of any surface it crosses.

Reversing is the point authorities push hardest on, because health and safety guidance treats reversing a collection vehicle as a hazard to be designed out. A turning head that works for a car and fails for an 11 metre refuse vehicle is a common reason a layout gets redrawn at week eight.

Submit a swept path analysis for the authority's own vehicle dimensions, not a generic one. Many waste teams publish the dimensions and the turning circle of their fleet, and using those figures removes the objection before it is made.

Where the vehicle cannot enter, the alternative is a collection point at the site entrance with a bin presentation area, and a management arrangement to move containers to it. That needs to be in the Waste Management Strategy and secured, because an arrangement nobody is responsible for will not happen.

Bulky waste and recycling separation

Two items that get left off drawings and then appear as conditions.

Bulky waste needs somewhere to stand. On a block of flats without it, mattresses and furniture end up in the communal store or outside it, and the authority knows this. A small separate area, lockable and accessible to the managing agent, deals with it.

Recycling separation depends entirely on the local collection system. A council collecting glass separately needs a glass container in every store. A council operating a fully commingled system needs fewer, larger containers. Design for the system that exists, and note in the strategy that the store has capacity to adapt if the system changes, because collection contracts change more often than buildings do.

Food waste is the one that affects the store's internals: ventilation, a washable floor, a drainage point and a position that is not under a bedroom window.

Where a store defeats the ground floor frontage

This is the design tension on any urban scheme. Active frontage policy wants doors, windows and uses at street level. The waste team wants a store near the kerb with a wide door and a short drag distance.

Three resolutions tend to work:

1. A store behind the frontage with a bin presentation area at the kerb used on collection day only
2. A store entered from a side or rear service area, with the frontage kept clear
3. A store within the footprint but behind a door detailed as part of the frontage, with ventilation concealed in the reveal

What does not work is a louvred steel door three metres wide in the middle of a terrace that the design statement describes as a continuous active frontage. Pick one objective and design for it honestly.

Set out the resolution in the Design and Access Statement rather than hoping the two drawings are never read together.

Management and servicing arrangements

For anything above a handful of units, the authority will want to know who moves the bins, who cleans the store, who reports a problem and who replaces a damaged container.

That is a management plan, and it is short: the responsible party, the collection day routine, the cleaning frequency, the arrangement for bulky waste, and the contact route for residents. Where the development is phased, say which store serves which phase and when each is delivered, because provision for phase one sitting inside a phase three building is a familiar problem, as the note on phasing a large scheme describes.

Keep construction waste separate from all of this. A Site Waste Management Plan deals with the building phase and is a different document with a different audience.

An illustrative calculation

A block of 30 flats on a street with fortnightly residual and recycling collections. Taking a published arisings figure of 80 litres of residual waste per dwelling per week, the residual requirement is 30 times 80 times 2, so 4,800 litres, which is five 1,100 litre Eurobins with capacity to spare. Recycling calculated on the same basis adds four more, food waste adds two 240 litre containers, and bulky waste needs a 2m by 2m area.

That is eleven large containers plus a bulky area, which needs roughly 18m² of store with circulation, a 1.2 metre door, mechanical ventilation and a washable floor. The store sits 22 metres from the furthest flat entrance and 14 metres from the kerb. Figures here are illustrative, and the arisings rate must come from your own authority's guidance.

Agreeing the detail with the waste team

Most authorities will comment on a layout before submission if asked, and the waste team is usually quicker to respond than the planning department.

Send them the site plan, the store layout with the container schedule, the swept path drawing and the carry distances marked. Ask three questions: does the capacity match your arisings figures, can your vehicle service it as drawn, and are the carry distances acceptable. A written answer to those three, attached to the application, removes the most common holding objection on residential schemes.

This is general guidance, not legal advice; check the position with your local planning authority or a qualified professional before relying on it.