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Product category: Waste Services and Water Storage
News Release from: Sulo MGB | Subject: Iceberg underground refuse collection system
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial Team on 12 July 2006

New underground for the East End

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Sulo Iceberg underground refuse collection system has been specified for an ambitious housing development in London's East End.

Sulo's Iceberg underground refuse collection system has been specified for an ambitious £20 million housing development in London's East End Sulo Icebergs were chosen as a more practical and attractive alternative to chutes and bin stores installed in individual buildings, offering "a much more discreet way of handling domestic waste"

Abbotts Wharf, in the Limehouse regeneration area in Docklands, comprises around 200 properties in new four, eight and 13 storey buildings constructed on a disused canal-side warehouse site.

Half of the properties are for private ownership and half for social housing and shared accommodation, particularly for key workers.

Abbotts Wharf will have around 700 tenants.

The project, a joint venture between East Thames Housing and developer/builders Telford Homes, also comprises canal-side walkways, piazzas and commercial units including offices, shops and cafes.

The project's architects, Jestico + Whiles, introduced varying levels and elevations into the design of the buildings, enabling the inclusion of an underground car park.

"While this ground work was being undertaken we had the opportunity to incorporate Sulo's Iceberg underground refuse collection systems," says practice Associate Eoin Keating.

"We were keen to make this method of waste collection an integral part of the development".

With Sulo's Iceberg system a galvanised steel waste collection container, available in 3, 4 and 5 cubic metre modules, is contained within an underground pit lined with watertight reinforced cast concrete.

All that is visible at ground level is a steel walkway platform with an integral compact receiver unit through which the refuse is deposited.

The receivers, made of powder-coated galvanised steel, are attractively designed to blend harmoniously with the surrounding streetscape.

The container, platform and receiver unit are assembled as a single unit.

To empty the system a crane mounted on the collection vehicle engages with concealed hooks at the top of the receiver unit which is then lifted, complete with the platform and container.

The contents of the container are emptied into the collection vehicle through base flaps activated via the crane lift mechanism.

"We considered the waste management issue at a very early stage in the project," explains Eoin Keating, "and were reluctant to incorporate traditional bin chutes and bin stores into the new buildings".

"Chutes require a lot of maintenance and their ground-level bin stores are prone to becoming dirty, smelly eyesores".

"The Sulo Iceberg system is a much more discreet means of handling domestic waste, and its aesthetic qualities, with its completely concealed container and attractive street furniture receivers, are very much in keeping with the clean modern design of the development".

Ten Iceberg units have been installed around Abbotts Wharf, strategically located so that none are more than 40 metres away from any individual property.

The units have also been sited for ease of access by collection vehicles; the Icebergs are currently emptied once a week.

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