Most waste materials ignite easily, burn fiercely and give off large volumes of noxious fumes. Within a communal housing environment this risk often presents itself where internal bin rooms or chutes are not adequately protected against fire and smoke. This can necessitate costly upgrades to achieve compliance and many landlords at this point consider changing to external storage, particularly as this also helps reduce the blockages and lack of recycling that frequently plague blocks fitted with chutes.
Fire risk is also commonly identified where the refuse storage provision has become inadequate due to current volumes of waste or a change to containerisation instead of sack collections, typically leading to unsecured bins outside dwellings and accumulations of side waste which are of course arson triggers in themselves.
To help combat waste and recycling bin fires, fire prevention organisations such as the FPA and CFPA-E recommend that bins should not be stored within six metres of any building opening such as doors, windows, ventilation ducts or exposed soffits and fascias. If this safety distance is impossible to achieve, they should be stored in a structure providing 30 minutes fire resistance. They should also be secured in place to prevent being moved closer to the building.
metroSTOR
bin stores enable you to secure bins at a safe distance from dwellings, and where the six metre recommendation cannot be achieved due to site constraints, the risk can be reduced by specifying cladding materials tested to BS476 to provide 30 minutes fire resistance.
