How big a dumpster?

Question

I'm curious to hear if anyone has advice on sizing of a dumpster/dumpsters for an apartment complex. I have finally gotten my property 100% occupied (yay!!) but have also just gotten a complaint letter from the city about the resulting overflowing dumpster (boo!). Is there some rule of thumb for this? Like, say, a 2 yard dumpster equals x number of tenants?

At this point there is one smaller dumpster on the property, which is 29 one bd units. I don't think I'm having issues with outsiders filling up the dumpsters, since there is city-provided trash service for the surrounding homes. It's probably just the increased use from more tenants.

Jean Bolger · Answer

That's a good point @Scott Trench. But the trash building up outside the dumpster has been an ongoing issue- it's just worse now! And now that I've been sent the citation they have the power to insist that I upgrade by building an enclosure for the dumpster as well (new code). However, I did get the impression that if I get the immediate trash problem solved I can delay building the enclosure for a while.

Scott Trench · Answer

@Jean BolgerI'm making an assumption here, but if you just got to 100% occupancy, you might have recently had a higher than usual number of move-ins. Move-ins might result in a lot of trash from unneeded boxes and packing stuff, and all at once that could result in your overflow. If this is the first time you've been to 100% occupancy, that could be part of the reason for the overflow.

On the other hand, you might see the same problem next year at move-OUT time..

Stone Teran · Answer

I want to add that my figure assumes they are emptied once per week.

Stone Teran · Answer

I provide 1 yard per 3 1-bedroom units.  That's ensures it rarely overflows.

Jonathan Baker · Answer

@Scott Trench has a very good point here. The amount of trash increases during move-in and move-out. But then if the trash mount up is an ongoing issue then you might have to check on that and find a solution. The best and easiest solution will be to get a junk removal bin that will hold all the trash that is generated in your apartment.

So try searching for garbage bin rental prices and get one at a reasonable price.

Jean Bolger · Answer

Thanks! did find one article online from the Seattle waste mgmt company that says to calculate by dividing the number of apartment units by ten to get the number of cubic yards. That sounds like it's only about half of what you are suggesting though. Our company only does weekly pickups, and they charge by the item for large/extra stuff. But they'll accept pretty much anything that you can fit in a dumpster so if you can break up items and get them in it's OK. I'm not even sure what the size of the current dumpster is- I think it's a two yard. Seems like I will need double that at the very least.

@Arlan Potter

Arlan Potter · Answer

Now the big deal.

If I use the local municipality dumpsters, they kick out dumpsters with furniture in them.

But we use a private company and they will take anything. Cool.

It does cost me an extra $50.00/month, but I hate hauling off furniture.

Arlan Potter · Answer

We have one dump of a two yard dumpster per unit per month.

I think

Lets see:

2 dumpsters

Dumped three times a week

4 weeks a month

For a 24 unit complex

2 x 3 x 4 = 24 dumps

Not sure it works for all situations but it calculates for my multi.

How big a dumpster?

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