West Brighton PACT transformation brings waste infrastructure into the 21st century

A new waste and recycling management system has been incorporated into the $332.3 million transformation of the West Brighton Houses community on Staten Island, New York.

The PACT program covers 574 apartments across 16 residential buildings, home to more than 1,300 residents, with improvements being made to apartments, building systems, landscaping, public spaces and community facilities.

Waste infrastructure forms part of that wider investment, with the project team looking beyond simply providing containers to consider how residents will actually use the system day to day.

Making correct disposal easier

Working with OCV Architects and West Brighton PACT Partners, metroSTOR helped develop a system providing dedicated capacity for trash, recycling and food scraps within easy reach of the residential buildings.

The design draws on lessons learned from other NYCHA communities, where the location and usability of collection points can have a significant influence on how effectively a waste system performs. Accessibility was therefore treated as an operational requirement as well as a compliance consideration. 

Collection points needed to be easy for residents to approach and use, including people with limited mobility, while also providing the circulation and access required by collection crews. Within the available footprint, metroSTOR worked with the project team to maximize container capacity while maintaining ADA-compliant routes, deposit heights and circulation space.

Supporting recycling and organics diversion

Separate and clearly identifiable destinations have been provided for trash, recycling and food scraps. The principle is straightforward: if residents are expected to separate materials correctly, the infrastructure needs to make that process as intuitive and convenient as possible. Secure containment also helps reduce access to deposited waste and food scraps, supporting efforts to control litter and vermin around the collection areas.

Integrated into the wider landscape

The project’s landscape design called for cedar screening around the waste collection areas. Rather than introducing a separate screening structure around conventional carts, the cedar elements were incorporated directly into the metroSTOR enclosures. This allowed the same infrastructure to address capacity, accessibility, containment and appearance, while reducing additional structures and potential spaces for litter to accumulate.

The resulting waste system forms part of the wider effort to create a cleaner, safer and more accessible residential environment at West Brighton.

Read the full West Brighton case study.