Storage of household waste

An adequate external space should be allocated for waste storage and sized to accommodate containers according to the largest of the following two volumes: 

• The minimum volume recommended by British Standard 5906 (British Standards Institution, 2005) based on a maximum collection frequency of once per week. This volume is 100 litres for a single bedroom dwelling, with a further 70 litres for each additional bedroom.
• The total volume of the external waste containers provided by the Local Authority.

Storage space must provide inclusive access and usability (Checklist IDP). Containers must not be stacked.

Storage of recyclable household waste

Dedicated internal storage for recyclable household waste can be credited where there is no (or insufficient) dedicated external storage capacity for recyclable material, no Local Authority collection scheme and where the following criteria are met: 

At least three internal storage bins:

• all located in an adequate internal space
• with a minimum total capacity of 60 litres.

Storage of recyclable household waste

A combination of internal storage capacity provided in an adequate internal space, with either:

• a Local Authority collection scheme, or
• no Local Authority collection scheme but adequate external storage capacity.

Local Authority collection scheme

In addition to a Local Authority collection scheme (With a collection frequency of at least fortnigthly), at least one of the following requirements must be met:

• Recyclable household waste is sorted after collection and a single bin of at least 30 litres is provided in an adequate internal space.
• Materials are sorted before collection and at least three separate bins are provided with a total capacity of 30 litres. Each bin must have a capacity of at least 7 litres and be located in an adequate internal space. 
• An automated waste collection system which collects at least three different types of recyclable waste.

No Local Authority collection scheme but adequate external storage capacity

For houses and flats there must be at least three identifiably different internal storage bins for recyclable waste located in an adequate internal space: 

• with a minimum total capacity of 30 litres
• with a minimum individual capacity of at least 7 litres.

AND

For houses, an adequate external space must be provided for storing at least three external bins for a recyclable waste:

• with a minimum total capacity of 180 litres
• with a minimum individual capacity of 40 litres.

For flats, a private recycling scheme operator must be appointed to maintain bins and collect recyclable waste regularly. Recycling containers must:

• be located in an adequate external space
• be sized according to the frequency of collection, based on guidance from the recycling scheme operator
• store at least three types of recyclable waste in identifiably different bins

Default Cases

None