Authors: Katherine Kenny & Brandon Neva
If civic engagement increases, waste will be better sorted at the first mile, creating opportunities to maximize its value generation in secondary markets and reduce the distance it has to travel to be treated.
These typologies were calculated by first understanding how much of each waste type does an average family produce, and then coding that into City Engine to see as you play with different urban arrangements how does the required waste infrastructure change.
There are 50 sorting bins on the site, so people have to walk from their building to the sorting bin to properly dispose of the waste. Each bin is placed so the max distance someone has to walk is approximately 100 feet.
Electric pick-up bikes will travel on bike paths or service roads to pick up the waste from the sorting bins and to take it one of the three holding centers on the site. The average distance traveled by one of these bikes is ~2,000 feet. At the holding center the waste is accumulated and compacted in compression bins, for approximately 2 weeks before moving to its final destination.
From the holding station, the waste is picked up by the traditional sanitation truck and is either taken off-site or drives to the on-site transformation station. The bulk of metal, plastic, glass and paper will be taken to other recycling processing facilities that already exist in the city. Any organics, refuse and select other materials will be taken to the transformation station, where waste can be turned to energy or resold in boutique markets.
