Posted May 1st, 2014 by Christy Serafini

A trash chute is a modern convenience that most people take for granted. However, working in a high-rise building would be much less pleasant without these simple, time-saving devices. Below are several ways that trash chutes improve the conditions inside a modern, high-rise structure.

Added Convenience

The presence of a trash chute improves the convenience factor of working in a large commercial building. With a chute, trash doesn’t have to be removed from each floor bag by bag, but is instead deposited into the chute opening located on each level. This requires fewer personnel to keep the building clean and fewer work-hours than would be needed to remove trash if each bag had to be carried or carted down to the ground level on elevators. Many modern trash chute systems also include a separate chute for recycling. This encourages occupants of the building to participate in environmentally friendly recycling programs. In some communities, recycling is mandatory, and a dedicated chute makes it convenient for the occupants of a building to comply with local laws and ordinances.

Improved Sanitation

If it’s inconvenient to properly get rid of waste materials, many building occupants simply leave their trash in the nearest out-of-the-way location. Hallways, stairwells and common areas often become cluttered with trash and debris. If this occurs constantly throughout the entire building, the piles of accumulated trash can become a health hazard. Pests are naturally drawn to decomposing garbage, and the moisture and nutrients contained in some types of trash provide a medium for fungus and mold to grow. A trash chute helps to alleviate the problems caused by abandoned trash. Once the garbage is placed in the chutes located on each floor, the bags fall directly into a dumpster or roll-off container and are never touched again by human hands. Most chutes even come equipped with a cleaning and sanitizing system that works automatically to eliminate the germs and smells that go along with garbage.

Easy To Install

Essentially, a trash chute system consists of a long metal tube installed vertically along the internal supports of a building. The openings must be mounted flush with the wall and connected to the main tube which leads to the lowest level of the building where the trash is collected. Adding a trash chute during the construction phase is the easiest way to incorporate a chute into a structure. However, even if a building doesn’t come equipped with a trash chute, it may be possible to retrofit the structure with a chute system later. It’s also a fairly straightforward process to upgrade an older trash chute with a newer model that includes sorting and recycling.

A Trash Chute for Every Building

Almost every large commercial building benefits from having a trash chute. Chutes are especially useful in:

• Office buildings
• Hospitals
• Manufacturing facilities

While trash chutes are important to the businesses that occupy a large building after construction, special debris chutes are also available for use during the construction process itself. These types of chutes facilitate safe disposal of bulky construction debris and are often larger and more sturdily constructed than standard trash chutes.

Wade Architectural Systems supplies a wide variety of architectural metal products, including premium-quality Wilkinson Hi-Rise trash, recycling and debris chutes. If you’d like to learn more about including a Wilkinson Hi-Rise chute system in your next high-rise project, contact us for more information today.