Property Waste Management: The Lowly Trash Enclosure Gets an Image Makeover

Meet the lowly multifamily waste enclosure – the bane of property waste management. Typically, in a discrete location tucked behind non-descript walls, they’re where residents must go to get rid of their garbage. And they usually host messy, smelly dumpsters and recycling containers overflowing with those ubiquitous, empty Amazon boxes that have come to symbolize the pandemic almost as much the spiky purple ball of COVID-19 itself. Nobody wants to go there, and with everyone working from home, it’s gotten even worse than before. In short, it’s a mess. But it’s a hidden mess, right? Wrong. You might be shocked to know that trash enclosures are often the most visited places in the entire community. Even more than the glitzy pool with its cabanas and bars. Yes, the average resident of a multifamily community visits the trash enclosure an average of three times a week. Messiness isn’t the only problem lurking in the waste enclosures though. Residents throw everything from old, sprung mattresses to entire dining-room sets in the trash and recycling dumpsters. And, oh, the boxes, boxes, boxes! They’re everywhere. They’re uncollapsed, taking up so much space that there’s room for almost nothing else. It’s enough to make the heart of even the least grinchy property manager two sizes too small. The money side of property waste management These problems aren’t just major annoyances though; they’re also extremely costly. Recycling contamination fines, bulky items and overpaying for pickups – much of it a result of all those uncollapsed boxes – can cost even a small property literally thousands of unplanned dollars a month. It’s almost as if property managers and facilities staff need a full-time trash guard just to keep the enclosures under control. Now, thanks to innovations in trash technology, they can have just that, and it’s all operable from the safe (and much tidier) con...