Street and city
Recycling point
housingapartment buildingschoolneighborhoodretail
A place with separate containers where recoverable waste is dropped off, such as paper, plastic, glass, metal and organics. It can be in a house, a building or a neighborhood.
Solves
What it solves
It makes separation at source easier so materials are used again and do not end up buried. Roofed and ventilated, it avoids odors, rain and pests.
Today
Design a roofed, ventilated and washable space, easily accessible for those who drop off and those who collect, with containers labeled by color and symbol. At home, plan a cabinet with compartments near the kitchen.
Common mistake
Leaving recycling in a dark, unroofed and distant corner, where everything gets mixed and wet.
Tomorrow
Next to the recycling point the neighborhood compost and a reuse shelf where objects change hands can coexist. A weekend repair workshop turns it into a meeting place.
Fact Costa Rican law sets the order of waste management as avoid, reduce, reuse, recover and finally dispose of what is left.
Where it comes from
- 1Japanese urban trade Japan, 1031
There are records of shops that sold paper made from used paper, the first documented paper recycling. - 2Container deposit Sweden, 1884
An official deposit system was created that returned money for every bottle handed in. - 3Zero waste town Kamikatsu, Japan, since 2003
Its residents separate waste into 45 categories at a community center and recycle more than 80 percent. - 4Waste management law Costa Rica, 2010
The law requires waste to be separated at source and asks every municipality for materials recovery centers.
Appears in the routes
See also
Also in Street and city
Diagrams and texts by LDB Arquitectura. They are shared under the CC BY 4.0 license, which allows them to be used and adapted with credit to the source.