Delivery Boxes: WasteBox

Usually collected in the evening, these boxes are used to take non-recyclable, non-compostable waste away from properties to the LocalHub where it is collected before being sent on to landfill and/or incineration.

Overview

These are the size of an  OmniBox (40x36x49 cm or 16x14x20 in.) and made of black plastic. Refuse is put in it and is taken away to be emptied - typically the same or next day - and a clean replacement left in its place.

Use

These are used as refuse bins and are collected as often as once a day. The user simply presses a button on their touch-screen to request that the bin be emptied.

The traditional approach to “collecting the bins” is for someone to walk from the refuse collection vehicle to the property; collect the bin and take it to the vehicle; empty it into the vehicle and return it to the property.

This means that the bin is often returned dirty as it's difficult to empty without making a mess of at least the lip of the bin - hence we've all become accustomed to using bin-liners. These are themselves wasteful, expensive and contributing to landfill. It's also a great way to ensure that some of the rubbish (and many of the smells) are scattered along our roads in the process.

A better approach would be to collect the box and load it onto a vehicle - keeping its lid closed and hence the outside clean. Replacing the box with a freshly cleaned one (blasted clean by industrial cleaning machines at the hub) as you take the full one away would halve the distance the staff need to walk - making collections much more efficient.

Impact

The use of the other containers for recycling and compostable waste ensures that the volumes of waste left to go in these bins is much lower than previously.

The new approach to collecting and replacing bins up to daily allows smaller, lighter and cleaner vehicles with one or two man crews to visit houses rather than hugely expensive, heavy and dirty bin lorries.

Avoiding bin-liners reduces waste.

The job of collecting these is much less strenuous and dramatically less unpleasant than the job today's bin men have to do.

Hygiene

The boxes are designed to be blasted clean at the LocalHub. Because they are only opened in the home as you put items into them and then automatically at the hub, smells and germs are much reduced in comparison to today's refuse collections.

It would not be unreasonable to insist that the householder must keep the outside of the box clean so that those collecting it do not end up filthy from handling it.

It may also be appropriate to insist that faeces (whether baby or animal) is placed in a plastic bag and tied or sealed rather than being placed directly into the box.

Stackable

Unlike most of the other boxes, these are tapered and designed to stack so that the empty (cleaned) boxes do not take up as much space on a delivery van as they would otherwise.