Manchester City Centre, Manchester City Council

For local authorities in the United Kingdom, one of the challenges in urban settings is obtaining clean recycling from flats, particularly those above shops and other commercial properties. Pavement and on-street space is typically restricted, and in the absence of an effective storage solution, residents often place refuse bags on the streets to await collection, which creates a negative visual impact and often attracts additional side waste issues from pedestrians.

Facing similar challenges, Manchester City Council were seeking a secure and easily accessible domestic waste solution for residents in the city centre. Working alongside the council, metroSTOR recently completed installation of 5no. bespoke metroSTOR PBM Bin Storage Housings, installed in Thomas St, Piccadilly, Piccadilly Gardens and Long Millgate.

The units were configured with a solid door design with a latch and code secure locking system, ensuring the housing is accessed solely by the residents and collection crews. By restricting access from the general public, these configurations reduce the risk of recycling contamination, with the housings clad in Firenze Night Black with an anti-graffiti powder coating to protect them from potential vandalism.

Signage displaying the ‘Manchester Bee’ motif was integrated into the design of the units. An emblem for over 150 years, the Manchester worker bee is one of the most recognised symbols of Manchester, representing the industrious nature of the city and its residents. The integration of sedum-only green roofs across all units further supports the significance of the bee by providing pockets of urban biodiversity and a habitat for flora and fauna for them to pollinate, helping to combat the ongoing risk of decline to bee populations in the UK. Green roofs have also been found to help reduce the ‘urban heat island effect’ and combat the effects of pollution by absorbing noise, trapping dust and recycling carbon dioxide.