Royston Street Darlinghurst underground waste trial
Residents in 12 period apartment buildings had unique waste issues resolved by installing bins connected to street-level chutes.
Project Status: Completed
A unique place-based solution
Residents in Royston Street, Darlinghurst are part of an innovative trial of underground communal rubbish bins designed to increase the street’s waste and recycling capacity and reduce clutter.
Royston Street had a unique set of waste issues. The 12 period apartment buildings in this small cul-de-sac were constructed without any space to store bins.
A bin bay was built in the 1980s for the street’s residents to store their wheelie bins but this became overcrowded and was attracting illegal dumping. The street’s 22 standard-size 240-litre wheelie bins have been removed and replaced with five 1,100-litre underground bins accessed via chutes.
There are 3 bin chutes for general waste and 2 for recycling. Silent hydraulic lifts raise the chutes and the bins stored underneath to street-level for emptying.
This new system – a first in the City of Sydney – was the most suitable place-based solution for solving Royston Street’s unique set of ongoing waste issues. There are no plans to use this system in any other inner Sydney streets at this time.
