Office of Waste Reduction & Recycling

OWRR Design Guidelines

Site & Space Planning C&D Waste Management Access to Buildings During Construction Requirements by Phase Waste Reduction Home

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OWRR Guidelines - Building Use
Site and Space Planning
Outdoor Service Areas Indoor Recycling Sites Walkway Sites
Needs Based on Building Use Containers & Equipment Overview Service Vehicles

Program needs based on building use
Academic Administrative Athletics Clinical Food Service Areas Historic Campus
Institutes, Conference Centers, Student Unions Maintenance Shops, Art Studios, Performing Arts Parking Decks Printing Operations Research Labs Residence Halls
Retail, Bookstores, Etc.


This information supports and supplements information included in the UNC-Chapel Hill Design Guidelines—specifically, Chapter III and Chapter V: Section 02475.

Academic

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster  

Cardboard

dumpster  

Outdoor sites

carts With OWRR approval carts may be optional in this setting if indoor recycling is adequate.

Walkway sites

Victor Stanley Receptacles Recommended in high traffic pedestrian areas or other outside gathering places.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Recycling Areas: Hallways outside classrooms, lecture halls and auditoriums; vending areas and lounges; break rooms; computer labs; and office work/copy areas.

Administrative

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster  

Cardboard

dumpster  

Outdoor Sites

carts With OWRR approval carts may be optional in this setting if indoor recycling is adequate.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Recommended in high traffic pedestrian areas or other outside gathering places.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Recycling Areas: Hallways near large conference rooms, vending areas, break rooms and lounges; and at each department's copy area.

Athletics

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster or compactor May change based on seasonal needs.

Cardboard

dumpster or compactor May change based on seasonal needs.

Outdoor Sites

carts or other container May need large container for collection of high volumes of recyclables. This could be permanent or seasonal.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles With OWRR and Grounds approval only

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Recycling Areas: Paper recycling needed for office areas. Bottle/Can and Newspaper/Magazine bins are needed in public areas. However, recycling at athletic venues is outside the normal scope of the indoor recycling program. Placement and serving of public area recycling, while required, must be coordinated between the owner (Athletics) and OWRR. Extra signage is required.

Clinical

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster  

Cardboard

dumpster  

Outdoor Sites

carts With OWRR approval carts may be optional in this setting if indoor recycling is adequate.

Walkway sites

Victor Stanley Receptacles Recommended in high traffic pedestrian areas or other outside gathering places.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Recycling Areas: Hallways outside classrooms, lecture halls and auditoriums; vending areas, break rooms and lounges; computer labs; and office work/copy areas.

Confidential Paper Shredding

shredders, locked containers, etc. Patient information must be handled confidentially and destroyed. Contact the Medical School Planning Office for more information on the space and design requirements. (919) 966-2441

Food Service Areas

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster or compactor Horizontal compactors may be required by the health department or due to volume.

Cardboard

dumpster or compactor High volumes of cardboard may dictate use of a horizontal compactor.

Outdoor Sites

carts Food prep areas generate #10 steel cans, glass and plastic bottles. Also, carts are used to store recyclables collected from indoor and outdoor seating areas.

Grease

Carts or other container Cooking grease must be collected separately.

Food Waste

Carts Consult with OWRR and owner.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Used beverage containers and newspapers from outdoor seating areas.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Hallways near large conference rooms, vending areas and lounges; and at each department's copy area. 

Any facilities that will host large events or have catering kitchens should plan to have recycling bins inside for use during functions. In addition, outdoor recycling carts must be available for service and catering personnel to use during or after the event.1

Historic Campus

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash, Cardboard and Carts

dumpster carts If the service area and dumpster pad are not located at the building, as is sometimes necessary for main campus buildings, the project must state which existing dumpster/service area will be used once the building is complete.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Recommended in high traffic pedestrian areas or other outside gathering places.

Institutes, Conference Centers, Student Union

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster or compactor Horizontal compactors may be required by the health department or due to volume.

Cardboard

dumpster or compactor High volumes of cardboard may dictate use of an horizontal compactor.

Outdoor Sites

carts Food prep areas generate #10 steel cans, glass and plastic bottles. Also, carts are used to store recyclables collected from high volume events or seating areas.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Recommended in high traffic pedestrian areas or other outside gathering places.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Hallways outside conference rooms, classrooms, lecture halls and auditoriums; vending areas, break rooms and lounges; computer labs; and each department's copy area.

Any facilities that will host large events or have catering kitchens should plan to have recycling bins inside for use during functions. In addition, outdoor recycling carts must be available for service and catering personnel to use during or after the event.1

Maintenance Shops, Art Studios, Performing Arts

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster or roll-off In addition to dumpsters, rolloff containers may be needed for large volumes of bulky trash, wood, or scrap metal.

Cardboard

dumpster  

Outdoor Sites

carts Carts may be needed to store recyclables collected from high volume events and seating areas.

Compostable Plant Material

carts or other container Considerations should be made for greenhouses, athletic venues, and other grounds maintenance facilities generating compostable plant material.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Recommended in high traffic pedestrian areas or other outside gathering places.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Classrooms, lecture halls and auditoriums; vending areas, break rooms and lounges; computer labs; and each department's copy area.

Parking Decks and High Volume Parking Lots

 EquipmentSpecial Considerations

Trash

dumpster High volume parking lots and decks may need a 4-6 cubic yard slant front dumpster into which the street sweeping equipment can be emptied.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Recommended at park and ride lots next to the bus stop.

Printing Operations

 EquipmentSpecial Considerations

Trash

dumpster  

Cardboard

dumpster or compactor High volumes of cardboard may dictate use of an horizontal compactor.

Outdoor Sites

carts Carts may be optional in this setting if indoor recycling is adequate.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Recommended in high traffic pedestrian areas or other outside gathering places.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Hallways outside conference rooms,vending areas, break rooms and lounges, and each department's copy area. In addition to the routine areas for paper recycling, print operations will generate large volumes of office paper for recycling. This is usually stored in large, palletized boxes at the loading dock area.

Research Labs

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster  

Cardboard

dumpster  

Outdoor Sites

carts Carts are usually necessary in these settings for the collection of plastic bottles (non-hazardous from labs).

Animal Bedding

carts or other container Any research facility with animals must have the capability to recycle animal bedding.

Compostable Plant Material

carts or other container Considerations should be made for greenhouses, athletic venues, and other grounds maintenance facilities generating compostable plant material.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Recommended in high traffic pedestrian areas or other outside gathering places.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Recycling Areas: Hallways outside classrooms, lecture halls auditoriums and restricted labs; vending areas, break rooms and lounges; computer labs; and office work/copy areas.

Confidential Paper Shredding

shredders, locked containers, etc. Patient information must be handled confidentially and destroyed. Contact the Medical School Planning Office for more information on HIPAA and space and design requirements. (919) 966-2441

Retail, Bookstores, Etc.

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster or compactor Horizontal compactors may be required for high trash volumes.

Cardboard

dumpster or compactor High volumes of cardboard may dictate use of a horizontal compactor.

Outdoor sites

carts Also, carts are used to store recyclables collected from indoor and outdoor seating areas.

Food Waste or Compostable Plant Material

carts or other container Considerations should be made for greenhouses, athletic venues, and other grounds maintenance facilities generating compostable plant material.

Walkway Sites

Victor Stanley receptacles Used beverage containers and newspapers from outdoor seating areas.

Indoor Recycling

bin enclosures and standard bins Recycling Areas: Hallways near large confererence rooms, vending areas, break rooms and lounges; and at each department's copy area.

Residence Halls

 Equipment Special Considerations

Trash

dumpster The number of dumpsters needed is dependent upon number of residents, layout of building(s), etc.

Cardboard

dumpster  

Outdoor sites

carts The number of containers needed may vary and depends on the number of residents.

Indoor Recycling

  Indoor recycling must be evaluated on a case-by-case basis. Bins for office paper are always included in the Housing staff office areas. Bins in public areas, computer labs and lounges should be coordinated with OWRR.

The information on this page can be found in the UNC Design Guidelines Manual, Chapter III. University Planning Standards, Section C. Space Planning Requirements, 4. Food Service Facilities, Vending Machines, and Catering Kitchens.

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