Key Takeaways
Innovations in apartment trash chutes:- Durable Materials: Aluminized or stainless steel options ensure longevity and reduced maintenance costs.
- Safety Features: Intake doors with safety mechanisms protect residents, especially children and pets.
- Efficiency Enhancements: Odor control systems, self-cleaning mechanisms, and sorting capabilities promote hygiene and recycling.
Trash chutes for apartment buildings are a must in many areas, especially high-rise buildings. In these types of buildings, lugging trash up and down floors simply isn’t feasible. It may be hard to do – if not impossible – for disabled or elderly tenants.
Moving trash through walkways presents an opportunity for a bag to break open or drip. Both of these scenarios can lead to a very stinky building quickly. Some tenants may also want to simply leave the trash bags outside their door, waiting until the next time they leave. But even for a short duration, this could be a safety hazard or fire code violation.
High-rise apartment buildings have dense populations, which means a ton of trash can accumulate quickly. Trash chutes for apartment buildings are an easy way to deal with large amounts of waste. They are safer and more sanitary than other options.
Trash chutes for apartments are long, vertical shafts that allow the trash to be disposed of on each floor (or alternate floors). The intake on each floor often has a door to heighten safety measures. As residents dispose of their trash, it accumulates at the bottom in a dumpster or goes through a trash compactor.
Some of the best trash chutes for apartment features to consider in your building include:
Durable Construction: Apartment buildings have a long life expectancy. When you select the right trash chute for an apartment building, you will want something durable enough to hold up year after year. Aluminized or stainless steel chutes can be purchased and designed to meet any building configuration. And a durable trash chute means you won’t have to spend extra money fixing or replacing sections. This process can be costly with a chute that isn’t made to last. It is especially costly if the broken section leads to a massive mess in your building that must be professionally cleaned.
Closing Intake Doors
Trash chutes can present a safety hazard for tenants with small children or curious pets. It’s imperative to have the appropriate safety precautions with your chute to prevent tragedies. Hand-operated hopper-type intake doors are a great option. You can also get self-closing and self-latching doors that are bottom-hinge to maximize ease of use for tenants. These doors must be fully ADA-compliant to meet Fair Housing laws and regulations.
Accordion Discharge
The National Fire Protection Association requires discharge doors to be held open with a 165-degree fusible link. This safety feature ensures that the link melts when it reaches 165 degrees. This process seals the chute to prevent the fire from spreading through the building using the chute. Accordion Fire Damper Discharges release accordion-style slats during a fire to prevent its spread. These doors are ideal for internal garbage chutes in high-rise apartments, hotels, hospitals, condominiums, and nursing homes. Discharge doors come in horizontal and vertical options and many different sizes.
Smart System
Chutes International’s Smart System is one of the most innovative products in waste removal. It is an ideal add-on for trash chutes in apartment buildings. This system allows users to wave their hands, and the doors will automatically open. It is ideal for tenants who may struggle with trash disposal – and it is ADA compliant. A touchscreen monitor displays the status of the doors and controllers. And with advanced diagnostic capabilities, building owners or managers can be immediately alerted in the event of a malfunction.
Odor Control Systems
Apartment buildings generate a lot of trash, and trash can get stinky quickly. Odor control systems can be incorporated into trash chutes to eliminate the odor. They are filled with neutralizing solutions to keep odor under control. Most systems require only quarterly or monthly maintenance visits. In addition to reducing odor, these systems can reduce vermin and pest issues for insects and rodents attracted to foul smells.
Self-Cleaning Systems
Cleaning features can also be incorporated into modern trash chutes. The chute can be automatically cleaned on a set interval. Automatic cleaning means you don’t have extra overhead paying someone to clean the chute. It also means that you will maintain a hygienic, healthy, and clean apartment building. This feature ensures that tenants won’t spread germs, and it will reduce nasty gunk from accumulating in the chute.
Sorting Capabilities
Many modern trash chutes allow tenants to separate normal trash from recycling. Or a Sorter can be installed at the base of the chute. These systems leverage any type of building’s natural logistics and make it easy to separate different types of trash. They are environmentally friendly, cost-effective, and easy to use and maintain. Apartment buildings have a lot of trash. But sorting systems make it easy to incorporate green elements and recycle as much material as possible.
Compactor
Another feature that can help handle the sheer amount of trash that is created in your apartment building is a compactor. Compactors can help you reduce your hauling requirements by up to 50%. And this reduction in the volume of waste often means you can reduce labor requirements for waste handlers. Reducing the volume of trash in your apartment building also reduces the chances that its accumulation could lead to unsafe working conditions. When trash accumulates for prolonged periods, it can also present an increased fire hazard. Trash compactors make your entire waste collection system more efficient. You can ensure that trash stays out of the way and doesn’t create safety problems.
The installation of a trash chute in an apartment building is one of the best ways to increase your property value. Tenants like convenience. They don’t like lugging heavy trash bags out to dumpsters. And modern chutes remain odor-free and clean. These features mean you can offer our tenants the best in big city living without some of the perceived drawbacks.
SBI Contracting, Inc. has a team of experts skilled in trash chute installation for apartments. Our knowledgeable staff can help you design the best chute for your needs, incorporating any features you’d like. Contact us today to learn more about options for your apartment building.