GB2319717A

GB2319717A - Collecting recyclable refuse

Info

Publication number: GB2319717A
Application number: GB9725186A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Iain Harvey Taylor; Deborah Elizabeth Stewart
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1996-11-30
Filing date: 1997-11-28
Publication date: 1998-06-03
Anticipated expiration: 2017-11-28
Also published as: GB9625003D0; EP0845424A1; GB2319717B; GB9725186D0

Abstract

There is provided apparatus to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, in the form of a main compartment 8 and an auxiliary compartment 2 for the collection of selected classes of refuse. The main compartment 8 is formed by a conventional wheeled bin to the rear of which a pannier bin forming the auxiliary compartment 2 is attached. Bin 2 is of plastics and has a frontal opening 4 leading into a top opening 6. The main bin 8 may be emptied by mechanical handling equipment, the selected material in bin 2 being removed by an operator.

Description

2319717 1 1 2 "Apparatus to Facilitate the Collection of Recyclable

Materialo 4 6 7 The present invention relates to apparatus and method to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, the apparatus comprising a main compartment and an auxiliary compartment for selected classes of refuse.

8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 The collection of refuse on a global scale is currently being simplified by the introduction of a wheeled bin, more commonly known as a "wheelie bin." These wheeled bins are designed to collect conventional waste from domestic, commercial and other premises.

A system known as Ilkerbside collection,' is employed to collect the waste material on prescribed days, and involves the proprietor of the property delivering the wheeled bin to the kerbside where it is then emptied by a collecting agency. This collection is facilitated by the introduction of specialised mechanical handling equipment, adapted to comply with the wheeled bins, and mounted on the rear of a waste compactor lorry.

2 1 2 3 4 6 7 8 9 11 12 13 14 is 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Similarly, the collection of recyclable material is achieved through the use of a similar method. Such material, which is primarily waste paper but not exclusively so, is delivered to the kerbside in a plurality of different ways: through the use of plastic bags issued by the collecting agency on a replacement basis, an entirely separate wheeled bin or in a plastic box. Such containers may be uplifted by the same collecting agency at the same time as the conventional waste material, but are normally emptied on different days.

However, the above containers for storing the recyclable waste all have associated disadvantages. The plastic bags have an on-going revenue cost as each one collected is replaced by an empty one. In the case of the secondary wheeled bin, the initial outlay to supply the bin is disproportionate to value of the recyclable material and it must be of the minimum dimensions which correspond to the specialised collecting machinery. As such, it is often the case that the wheeled bin has a volume which is substantially greater than that which is required in use. This leads to the proprietor using the secondary wheeled bin as an extension to that used for conventional waste. The plastic boxes have the potential for misappropriation by the proprietor of the establishment through the use of such boxes for other purposes.

All of the preceding containers have an inherent disadvantage directed towards the danger of them not being delivered to the kerbside for collection. This is due in the main to the inconvenience of having to deliver two different types of container to the kerbside either on the same day, or at a different 3 1 time.

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 is 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 The resultant effect when all of the above are considered is a reduced participation rate and thus the volume of the recyclable material collected is low, which may render the service ineffective in terms of cost.

It is an object of the present invention to obviate or mitigate the preceding disadvantages by providing an auxiliary bin which may be mounted on the main bin, thereby providing an integral solution to the collection of conventional and recyclable waste.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided apparatus to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, the apparatus comprising a main compartment and an auxiliary compartment for selected classes of refuse.

Preferably, said main compartment is a conventional wheeled bin, more commonly known as a "wheelie bin."

Preferably, said auxiliary compartment is in the form of a pannier bin which is adapted to be attached to said wheeled bin.

Preferably, said pannier bin is mounted on the rear of said wheeled bin so as not to interfere with the emptying of said wheeled bin by conventional methods.

Preferably. said pannier bin is provided with a frontal opening for receiving a plurality of said selected class of refuse and an opening at the top, designed to restrain the contents of said pannier bin, whilst allowing for ease of access.

4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 is 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 Preferably, the opening at the top of the pannier bin is formed without the use of lids, flaps or any other means of hinged or moveable constraints.

Preferably, the top opening is adapted to have two projections which extend vertically downwards to prevent the recyclable material from falling forwards whilst the wheeled bin is emptied.

Preferably said pannier bin is adapted to facilitate the collection of selected class of refuse, wherein said refuse comprises broadsheet and tabloid newspapers in addition to all types of magazine and wherein the pannier bin is most preferably sized and shaped to accommodate a variety of such waste material and other forms of recyclable material.

Preferably, said pannier bin is adapted to be sized as appropriate to the known average output of various materials from a plurality of different sources and is most preferably sized for emptying at prescribed intervals.

Preferably said pannier bin is constructed from a suitable, low cost plastics material.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, the method comprising the steps of:- providing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, said apparatus defining a collection medium; delivering the collection medium to the kerbside on the prescribed day; emptying of the collection medium by a collecting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 agency; and returning the collection medium to the kerbside for subsequent retrieval by the proprietor of the property.

Preferably, the emptying of the collection medium is achieved through the use of a plurality of stages, and most preferably in two stages.

Preferably, the first stage involves the collection agency operator positioning the collection medium on the specialised mechanical handling equipment as hereinbefore referred to.

Preferably, the second stage involves the collection agency operator retrieving the selected class of refuse from the pannier bin, mounted on the rear of the wheeled bin, and placing this selected refuse in an auxiliary compartment, provided on the specialised mechanical handling equipment.

Preferably. the collection agency operator initiates the emptying of the wheeled bin whereby, whilst the operator is disposing of the selected refuse in the auxiliary compartment, the wheeled bin is emptied and returned to the initial position, whereupon it is removed from the specialised mechanical handling equipment upon the return of the operator.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:Fig. 1 is a perspective view of apparatus to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, according to the first aspect of the present invention.

6 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 is 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 With reference to Fig. 1 there is shown apparatus to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, according to the first aspect of the present invention. The apparatus is in the form of an auxiliary bin 2 which has a frontal opening 4. The frontal opening 4 is adapted to receive waste material (not shown), for example newspapers, magazines and the like, placed into the auxiliary bin 2 by the proprietor and to restrain said waste material in a lateral direction.

The auxiliary bin 2 is attached to a main bin. The main bin 8 can be a wheeled bin, more commonly referred to as a "wheelie bin." The auxiliary bin 2 and the main bin 8 together comprise the apparatus of the present invention. The auxiliary bin 2 is mounted onto the rear of the main bin 8, so as not to interfere with the collection of the conventional waste when using specialised refuse collection machinery (not shown).

As illustrated in Fig. 1, the waste material is positioned within the confines of the auxiliary bin 2, through the frontal opening 4 and is restrained by the top opening 6, restricting vertical movement.

The top opening 6 is substantially in the form of a semi-circle, and is designed to restrain the waste material in the auxiliary bin 2 and is further provided with two projections 12 which extend vertically downwards to prevent the recyclable material from falling forwards whilst the wheeled bin is emptied.

Conventional waste from the property is contained within the main bin 8, whilst the selected class of material is collected in the auxiliary bin 2. At certain prescribed intervals, the apparatus of the present invention is delivered to the kerbside to be 7 1 emptied. 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 11 12 At this time, the main bin 8 is emptied using specialised mechanical handling equipment mounted on the rear of a waste compactor lorry. The auxiliary bin is designed to be emptied by hand at the same time, wherein the recyclable waste is placed into an auxiliary compartment adapted for such use and mounted on the waste compactor lorry.

Modifications and improvements may be made to the foregoing within the scope of the present invention.

8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36

Claims

1. Apparatus to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, the apparatus comprising a main compartment and an auxiliary compartment for selected classes of refuse.

2. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 1, wherein said main compartment is a conventional wheeled bin.

3. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 2, wherein said auxiliary compartment is in the form of a pannier bin which is adapted to be attached to said wheeled bin.

4. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3, wherein said pannier bin is mounted on the rear of said wheeled bin so as not to interfere with the emptying of said wheeled bin by conventional methods.

5. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 3 or Claim 4, wherein said pannier bin is provided with a frontal opening for receiving a plurality of said selected class of refuse and an opening at the top, designed to restrain the contents of said pannier bin, whilst allowing for ease of access.

6. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5, wherein the opening at the top of the pannier bin is formed without the use of lids, flaps or any other means of hinged or moveable constraints.

7. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 5 or Claim 6, wherein the top opening is adapted to have two projections which extend vertically downwards to prevent the recyclable material from falling forwards whilst the wheeled bin is emptied.

9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

8 9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 8. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 7, wherein said pannier bin is adapted to facilitate the collection of selected class of refuse, wherein said refuse comprises broadsheet and tabloid newspapers in addition to all types of magazine and wherein the pannier bin is most preferably sized and shaped to accommodate a variety of such waste material and other forms of recyclable material.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 8, wherein said pannier bin is adapted to be sized as appropriate to the known average output of various materials from a plurality of different sources and is most preferably sized for emptying at prescribed intervals.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 3 to 9, wherein said pannier bin is constructed from a plastics material.

11. A method to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, the method comprising the steps of:providing apparatus as claimed in any one of Claims 1 to 10 said apparatus defining a collection medium; delivering the collection medium to the kerbside on the prescribed day; emptying of the collection medium by a collecting agency; and returning the collection medium to the kerbside for subsequent retrieval by the proprietor of the property.

12. A method as claimed in Claim 11, wherein the emptying of the collection medium is achieved through 1 2 3 4 the use of a plurality of stages, including a first stage involving the collection agency operator positioning the collection medium on mechanical handling equipment, and a second stage involving the collection agency operator retrieving the selected class of refuse from the pannier bin, mounted on the rear of the wheeled bin, and placing this selected refuse in an auxiliary compartment, provided on the mechanical handling equipment.

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 is 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 13. A method as claimed in Claim 12, wherein the collection agency operator initiates the emptying of the wheeled bin whereby, whilst the operator is disposing of the selected refuse in the auxiliary compartment, the wheeled bin is emptied and returned to the initial position, whereupon it is removed from the specialised mechanical handling equipment upon the return of the operator.

14. Apparatus to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

15. A method to facilitate the collection of recyclable material, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.