Abstract: A waste chute for a multistory building is made up of modules stacked one upon the other. Each module has a vertical section of waste chute enclosed within a fire safe room. The chute sections are arranged to nest together to form a continuous chute when the modules are positioned on one another. Each room is provided with a door providing access to the room. The chute section is provided with a self closing access door. An alternative embodiment of the invention provided a module for more than one story. The multistory module has a room for each story. By integrating the chute section with the chute room in a prefabricated module, the construction of a building is facilitated. The costs and complications of having multiple trades working on the chute system are avoided. The invention may be practiced with a system for collecting different types of trash in different receptacles beneath the chute. Prewired controls in the module at each chute access door select the receptacle beneath the chute.

Abstract: A system uses a single chute in a multi-story building to collect into separate large receptacles different categories of wastes already separated by the tenant for recycling. A turntable carries a large receptacle for each category of waste. Controls on each floor enables a tenant to operate the turntable to position a selected receptacle beneath the turntable to receive a particular category of waste. A microprocessor controller and interlocks on the access doors prevent conflicts between floors. A reciprocating ram automatically compacts the waste in the receptacle after a predetermined number of deposits into the receptacle. The compaction operation is delayed by preset time intervals to avoid conflicts with tenant use. One of those time intervals is proportional to the floor elevation to give waste a time to fall though the chute. The compression apparatus may be arranged to apply different compressive forces to different types of waste and to signal when a container is full.

Abstract: A modular chute assembly section has a tubular shape with an axial bore. When joined together, one atop the other, a multistory gravity conveyor chute is formed for deposit of waste through an access door at any floor that will fall to a basement receiver. In the basement, a receptacle mover has a number of different receptacles thereon, one for each type of separated waste. Controls at each access door enable the waste depositor to selectively move a waste receptacle beneath the chute to correspond to the type of waste being deposited. Controls for locking the access door, selecting a particular waste receptacle, sensing when the door is closed, and signalling apparatus for informing a depositor of system operating conditions are enclosed in a housing attached to the section adjacent the access door.