For more information on how to build an exceptional recycling program for your architectural design, click here.
We know that developing a waste management program is never as simple as purchasing containers and hoping that the public knows how to use them. That’s why we’ve compiled the 8 best reads that will help you implement your building’s recycling and waste management program!
You spend a lot of time perfecting your designs, so it’s not hard to imagine that recycling & waste management is often overlooked by architects and designers. However, waste management is an important function for any commercial or residential space, so you’re probably already somewhat familiar with the recycling and waste industry. Standardize your program, add more recycling stations, reduce contamination—these are all the typical phrases you’ll hear in the recycling community about how to improve diversion rates and reduce costs for your facility. Although these practices are tried and true, there are many moving parts to each that makes tackling them successfully a little more difficult—but that’s where you come in!
The team at Busch Systems has put together the following essential list of 8 best resources to help you learn how to design a spectacular recycling & waste management program. Even better, they’re all free!
If you know of some more resources that can help us further educate, please comment below with your suggestions and we’ll add them to the list. And don’t forget to bookmark this page, so you can refer back to it when you’ve got some more time to brush up on your recycling & waste management skills.
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- Architects Change Recycling Habits with Design [Article] ~10 min read. This article explains the ongoing study in which the designers of a university campus building developed a waste management program that has been diverting more waste than other buildings on campus. Their design has so far impacted the behavior of visitors, encouraging them to properly recycle. The article outlines a few key elements of design that have helped encourage waste diversion and explains plans to further the research.
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- Designing for Better Waste Management [Blog] ~20 min read. So why is it so important to spend time considering waste management in your designs? This blog perfectly sums up the current problems with waste management in buildings and will inspire you to change the way buildings operate to have a major impact on the environment.
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- Rethinking The Spaces of Waste Management Infrastructure: Towards Integrated Urban Strategies to Avoid Urban Solid Waste in Contemporary City ~120 min read. This paper expands beyond waste management in single buildings and views it from a larger picture. It outlines a number of reasons why urban areas need more waste management solutions and can help spark some creativity in your future designs that will benefit our planet by encouraging waste minimization in communities.
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- Designing a Trash-Free Future [Article] ~15 min read. This short article explains some of New York City’s plan to reach their zero waste goals by tacking ways to reduce waste in different types of buildings within the city. This is a great initiative and something all architects working on city projects should consider in their plans to reduce waste through design.
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- Designing Out Waste: A Design Team Guide for Buildings [PDF] ~120 min read. This document is a resourceful guide that introduces the need for waste minimization in design and provides a number of tips to help you with your next building. We recommend checking this one out as it follows 5 key principles to reducing waste while providing detailed solutions to improve the design of waste management in buildings.
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- Zero Waste in Architecture: Rethink, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle [Blog]~30 min read. Not only is it important to incorporate waste management solutions in your design, but it can also be extremely beneficial to incorporate a zero waste philosophy in the structure and building process. Construction generates massive amounts of waste each year, so being creative with recycled materials in your designs can drastically decrease the amount of waste sent to landfill in your next project. Check out this article to learn more!
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- Architectural Collage: 7 Projects Utilizing Recycled Forms and Salvaged Designs [Blog]~25 min read. Building off of some of the principles from the article above, this blog is intended to help generate creativity for your next project. Take a look at these 7 prime examples of recycled materials in architecture around the world.
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- Solid Waste Management Architecture using Wireless Sensor Network technology [Report]~60 min read. This report explains a creative technological solution to making waste management easier within a facility. This is a popular idea that many architects have been exploring in order to find new ways to provide smart and simple waste management solutions in buildings. Check out this article to generate some of your own ideas for the future of recycling.
And there you have it! Plenty of resources to get your journey to sustainable waste management started. We’ll continue to update this page as we see more great information come down the pipe. And again, if you think we’ve missed some more resources, feel free to comment below.
Stay tuned!
