Bin the Chutes: Decommission refuse chutes in high-rise living

Recycling Rates

Many traditional waste chutes only have one material stream being catered for, meaning that recycling rates in high-rise communities tend to be incredibly poor. metroSTOR explains that while the national average recycling rate is around 44%, estates typically have been found to average at under 10%, due to the established use of refuse chutes and their inaccessible recycling facilities.

The Waste in Tall Buildings Study notes that without a smart automatic chute separation system, which most high-rise chutes do not have, good recycling and waste practices are difficult for residents to maintain.

Building Safety Regulator (BSR), part of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), note that it will not usually be practical to relocate bin chutes and providing compartmentation within existing chutes to current standards may not be reasonable, or even possible, depending on the building design. Retro-fitting existing chutes can be incredibly difficult and costly.

It is thought that refuse chutes do not equate to positive waste prevention behaviours. Waste is ‘invisible’ to residents once deposited in chutes, meaning the visual nudge of being faced with the volume of waste produced is reduced; out of sight, out of mind.

Fire Risks

Maintaining the highest level of fire safety standards in multiple occupancy buildings remains a top priority for all stakeholders. In the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower disaster, important lessons and primarily, action, is needed to protect high-rise communities and limit future fire risk.

The Prop erty Institute (TPI) note that by their nature, bin chutes pass through compartment barriers between floors and in some older buildings, chutes open directly onto corridors where residents live. This increases the potential risk of uncontrolled fire and toxic smoke spreading through a building rapidly. Both accidental and deliberate blazes are a problem and often, there is no means of suppressing a fire within the chute itself, in multi-occupancy buildings.

Measures such as fire dampers, fusible links and intumescent seals can help limit the spread of fire and smoke through the building’s compartments by providing barriers when exposed to heat. However, these systems are often fragile, difficult to maintain and prone to damage. What’s more, TPI reports that some of these control measures do not operate instantly, with some fusible links and sprinklers needing a fire to reach a specific temperature before they operate. In older buildings, in high-density areas, this poses a precarious and unnecessary risk.

Common issues reported during testing of these measures include inaccessibility, poor installation, lack of maintenance or mechanical failure. This makes it exceedingly difficult to maintain full compliance with fire safety standards at all times, especially in older buildings with ageing infrastructure. For individuals who work with larger housing associations or councils in a ‘responsible person’ or ‘accountable person’ capacity, there are circumstances in which individual people in an organisation or a professional context can be prosecuted under the fire safety legislation due to non-compliance.

In 2019, more than 100 residents were evacuated from a high-rise building in Hackney where a deliberate fire was set in a refuse chute. This led to a ban on all residents from using bin chute rooms throughout the building while investigations proceeded.

Numerous safety reports have flagged regular blockages in bin chutes and deterioration to the chutes themselves. In 2020, SNP Councillor, Anne Rendall, stated that given the age of the bin chute systems in older high-rise blocks and the damage that blockages can cause, it makes sense to change the waste disposal process in multi-storeys.

Blocked bin chutes in high-rise buildings in Elephant & Castle in 2021 resulted in what has been described as a “Dickensian crisis”. Residents reported school children tripping over open bags of waste, piles of Amazon cardboard stacked up ten feet high against wooden back doors, just inviting fire – and foxes defecating in the street after tearing bags of rubbish apart and gorging themselves on rotting food.

The picture for residents is, indeed, grim.

Unfortunately, the rooms which house bin chutes on housing estates, often become areas associated with anti-social behaviour and drug use.

In November 2024, non-residents were banned by Greater Manchester Police (GMP) from congregating on a housing estate’s flat stairwells, landings, bridges and refuse chutes. GMP attribute the ban to what they have described as “incessant drug dealing” and intimidation of residents in these areas.

Internal bin rooms in some housing estates have also been frequently taken over by homeless people in recent years, with drug use and cleanliness quickly becoming a problem for other residents.

Hygiene Issues

Tower Block UK, report resident experiences regarding household waste, noting that over the years, the inner linings of refuse chutes will have degraded as a result of everyday use and the more intense wear and tear associated with the chute unblocking process. Rough and broken surfaces inside chutes make it more likely that rubbish will get caught on the way down, causing further blockages.

In a Sheffield tower block, a report from an angry tenant in 2023, claim that his fly-infested bin chute has not been cleaned in 60 YEARS. Peter MacLoughlin, a former Cabinet Member for Housing at Sheffield City Council, reported soaring temperatures resulting in obnoxious odours of rotting food and nappies omitting from bin chutes, filling hallways and engulfing people’s homes. It was said again, that unmaintained concrete-lined chutes have cracked over the years, causing bin bags to catch and rip open and debris to become lodged within the chute.

Falls and Crime

Finally, a number of harrowing stories remain present online, concerning incidents of people falling and even intentional forcing of items or human bodies, through refuse chutes in high-rise building – both in the UK, US and globally.

Solutions for Waste Disposal in High-Rise Buildings

So what is the solution? Fire safety recommendations, safety concerns and recycling targets mean that an alternative waste management solution to bin chutes is required.

With most high-rise blocks constructed between the 1950s and 70s, a time when households produced significantly less volumes of waste in much lighter loads, the decommissioning of refuse chutes in favour of external, ground level bin enclosure units, responds directly to the Mayor of London’s 2030 target to recycle 65% of London’s municipal waste; thus developing cleaner and safer neighbourhoods.

At metroSTOR, we believe in the need to decommission dangerous refuse chutes and provide a range of bin enclosures that provide secure, future-proof waste storage solutions for use by modern communities.

These external waste and recycling systems eliminate chute blockages, reduce fire risk and support residents in high-rise communities to take ownership of waste recycling; building a cleaner and more sustainable future.

Case study: London Borough of Hounslow

In a bid to improve safety, hygiene and recycling rates, The London Borough of Hounslow worked with metroSTOR and undertook a project to decommission refuse chutes in several of their housing blocks. The chutes were replaced with metroSTOR’s ground-level bin enclosures, designed to meet the needs of residents.

The new bin storage units were fitted with clearly marked sections for general waste, recycling and food waste. The transition process from the old chutes included consultation with residents, within the boundaries of fire safety ‘musts’. This allowed residents to provide some input on the location and layout of the new bin sites; increasing buy-in and a sense of ownership for the community. Educational outreach saw multilingual leaflets, visual instructions and personal demonstrations delivered, ensuring that all residents, including vulnerable and non-English speaking people, understood the new system explicitly.

The council offered an assisted collection service to support residents with mobility issues on an individual-need basis. Community Support Teams and later, Enforcement Officers, were also deployed to provide ongoing support for residents, as well as address issues of non-compliance and penalties in the last instance.

The results have been overwhelmingly positive! Within a year, recycling rates across the estate increased by 40% and incidents of fly-tipping dropped significantly.

Residents reported fewer pests, improved air quality and a stronger sense of community ownership of the new system. Importantly, the removal of the old refuse chutes also eliminated a significant fire risk, making the buildings safer for residents and emergency services alike.

Other examples

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets and The London Borough of Hackney, have also since invested in this long-term improvement to waste management, with external ground-level bin enclosures.

Tower Hamlets Community Housing (TCHC) worked with metroSTOR to implement new bin houses, replacing current bin chutes. It is hoped and expected that these installations will dramatically increase recycling rates which were previously recorded as the lowest of all the London Boroughs in the Recycling Scorecard 2023.

In Hackney, following the closure of bin chutes and the installation of 57 bin stores across 7 estates in 2020, Hackney Council reported excellent improvement in recycling and waste tonnage rates. After only 4 months of these measures being implemented, Hackney saw a recycling rate increase of 2.5% and a waste tonnage reduction 7.2%.

metroSTOR were recently joined by industry experts with first hand experience of closing high-rise refuse chutes.

Dean Butterworth, Helen Scott, Harriet Turpin and Adam Briggs discussed the fire safety and recycling benefits of closing their chutes, operational outcomes and how residents have responded in our latest webinar.

Listen to their findings here.

Webinar video and summary