Recycling today
As recycling begins to play an increasingly important role in our society, more recycling stations and schemes are being implemented. This results in valuable urban spaces becoming increasingly cluttered with large, unsightly containers.
Street Furniture
A combined street furniture and recycling station, hides the storage element below ground in a pre-cast container, thus reducing the bulk that would normally be taking up urban space.
How it works
The seat is lifted to place the recyclable materials inside the container. The entrance flap is hinged to act as a valve, which stops smells escaping through the seat. Utilising existing High Capacity Vacuum Litter Collectors, the materials are sucked up into the collector.
Materials
Durable materials have been chosen for the construction: the seat is a hardwood box, with a galvanised steel frame; heavy duty hinges for the lockable doors and the seat/lid; the container is pre-cast concrete, made from smaller elements slotted together. The filtration system removes harmful pollutants, and there is a drain to the sewer. The container can be accessed for maintenance purposes by removing an element of the seat.
Variations
There is great potential for different sized containers and configurations of street furniture. One variant is for the device to be integrated into new building structures.
