&EPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
(5306W)
EPA-530-F-99-022b
October 1999
www.epa.gov/osw
Commodore Club
Key Biscayne, Florida
59% Waste Reduction Rate
Residents of the 187-household Commodore Club Condominiums
in Key Biscayne, Florida, an island suburb of Miami, have been
recycling since 1992. Using a modified trash chute system, which
accommodates trash and separated recyclables, residents recycle approximately 59%
of their solid waste. This saves the condominium approximately $1,500 per year in disposal costs
and an estimated $3,000 per year in indirect costs, such as pest control.
Program Description
Residents of Key Biscayne Commodore
Club condominiums in Key Biscayne,
Florida (population 8,854,1990
census), have been recycling using a
modified trash chute system since
1992. Residents separate newspaper,
aluminum cans, glass food and
beverage containers, and #1, #2, and
#3 plastics for recycling. Each
material goes down the chute into its
own receptacle.
The system, designed by Hi-Rise
Recycling Systems, Inc., works as
follows: a computer panel with buttons
for trash, newspaper, glass, plastics, and
cans is located next to the door of a
chute in the laundry room on each floor.
Bins corresponding to each type of
material sit on a rotating platform under
the chute opening in the basement.
When a resident wants to throw away
trash, she pushes the trash button on
the panel. This causes the platform in
the basement to rotate the trash
container directly under the opening.
When the container is in place, a light
appears on the computer panel, the
chute door unlocks, the resident
opens the door and throws away
her trash. Next, she may push the
button for newspaper recycling. The platform
in the basement rotates so that the newspaper
container is under the chute opening, and the
system is ready for her recyclable newspaper.
The platform contains two containers for trash
and four for recyclables.
Waste Management of Dade County picks
up trash every Monday through Saturday, and
recyclables once a week. The company picks
up trash more frequently than recyclables to
avoid odor and vector problems. There is very
little contamination of recyclables. Although
Waste Management can charge the building for
contaminated loads, Commodore Club
Condominiums has never been charged. The
building manager, in charge of running the
recycling program, believes that the fast, easy
collection system encourages high
participation rates and high-quality separation
of recyclables.
Building staff service the basement
trash/recycling room twice a day to switch bins
if necessary and ensure the system is running
properly. They pressure clean the bins monthly.
Materials Collected
Newspaper
Aluminum
Steel cans
Glass food and beverage containers
Plastics #1,2, & 3
This profile is part of the fact sheet Complex Recycling Issues: Strategies for Record-Setting Waste Reduction in Multi-
Family Dwellings (EPA-530-F-99-022).
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Outreach Activities
Many residents were involved in
choosing this recycling system and
became interested in participating.
Once they chose the system, a
representative from Hi-Rise Recycling
conducted a workshop at the complex,
explaining how the system worked,
what the county accepted for recycling,
how materials should be separated, the
plastics coding system, and what
residents needed to do to ensure a
successful program.
During the program's first three
months, the Hi-Rise representative
visited Commodore Club at least every-
other day to check the containers in the
basement and talk to residents as
needed. She put a new reinforcement
poster in each chute room every two
weeks. After three months, she sent
every resident a letter congratulating
them on their recycling efforts.
On an ongoing basis, Hi-Rise
supplies literature, which building staff
leave in common areas, including
instructions for how to recycle at the
chutes.
Costs/Benefits
In 1991, before implementing the
recycling system, Commodore Club
paid an estimated $2,130 per month in
trash hauling charges. The
condominiums also paid approximately
$7,300 in labor costs per year relating to
trash collection and removal. Hauling
and labor costs before the recycling
program were approximately $32,900
per year.
In 1998, Commodore Club paid
$714 per month for the Hi-Rise system.
This included installation and
maintenance. This is a lease-to-own rate
and, in 1999, Commodore Club will have
paid for the system. Although
Commodore Club will continue to pay a
monthly maintenance fee, this will be
much lower than its current monthly
rental charge, and savings over previous
trash costs will increase. In addition to
the monthly fees, Commodore Club pays
$1,750 in hauling charges per month,
based on a per container pick-up charge
for both trash and recyclables.
Commodore Club also pays
approximately $1,800 per year in labor
costs relating to trash and recycling
services. Because building services staff
used to pick up trash on each floor,
concentrating all trash and recyclables in
one place has greatly reduced labor time
for pick-up and maintenance. In total, for
trash and recyclables service,
Commodore Club pays approximately
$31,400 per year.
Since implementing its recycling
program, Commodore Club has saved
approximately $1,600 per year in trash
costs in addition to an estimated $3,000
per year in indirect costs such as reduced
cleaning and pest control in the trash
rooms on each floor.
Tips for Replication
• Make recycling easy. In order to
reach high recovery rates, recycling has
to be easy for residents.
• Simplify separation and recovery
procedures.
• Ensure management support.
Management support makes a huge
difference in program success.
Contacts:
Joe Bier
General Manager
Key Biscayne Commodore Club 1
177 Ocean Lane Drive
Key Biscayne, FL 33149
(305)361-1656
Amy Creekmur
Hi-Rise Recycling, Inc.
16255N.W.54Ave.
Miami, FL 33014
(305) 624-9222 fax (305) 625-4666
Program Summary, 1998
Start Date
Type of Multi-Family Building
Households Served
Total Waste Generated (Tons)
Disposed
Diverted
Total Diverted (%)
Materials Recovered (Tons)
Newspaper
Mixed glass
Aluminum cans
Plastics
Average Generation (Ibs./HH/day)
Disposed
Diverted
Cost per year*
Before recycling program
With recycling program
Cost per HH per year
Before recycling program
With recycling program
1992
12-story building, built circa 1972
187; 139 2-bedroom units, 24 3-bedroom
units, 24 1-bedroom units
$33,000 (estimated)
$31,400 (estimated)
$176 per HH per year (estimated)
$168 per HH per year (estimated)
HH = household
Numbers may not add to total due to rounding.
* Costs represent labor costs for Commodore Club employees who spend time handling trash and recycling,
hauling contractor costs, and Hi-Rise system rental fees (with recycling program).
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