How Many Bins Does a Strata Building Need? Count vs Size, Decided Properly

There is no single litres-per-apartment number that answers this honestly, because two buildings with identical unit counts produce different waste depending on unit sizes, resident mix and whether anyone actually sorts. What a strata committee can do is get the capacity roughly right, then make the count-versus-size call on the things that actually break bin rooms: door widths, collection access, chute layout and contamination. That call is this article.

Start with rough capacity, hold it loosely

As a starting point only: small apartments tend to generate somewhere in the range of one to two 240L bins' worth of general waste per ten units per week, more with families and larger units, less with singles and good recycling habits. Treat any per-unit figure as a first guess to be corrected by observation. The correction method is simple: after four weeks, bins consistently at 60 to 80 percent full on collection day are sized right; consistently overflowing or consistently light means adjust.

What matters more than the starting number is that your setup can be adjusted, which is exactly where count versus size comes in.

The case for more, smaller bins

• Bin room geometry. 660L bins fit through standard doors and around corners. An 1100L is roughly 1.2 metres wide and needs a wide, flat, step-free run from the bin room to where the truck stops. Plenty of older strata bin rooms simply cannot host 1100s.
• Contamination containment. One bad bin does not poison the whole stream. When recycling is collected (bookable for strata in NSW, SA and WA through us), a single contaminated 660L is a smaller loss than a contaminated 1100L.
• Distribution. Multi-entrance buildings and townhouse-style strata can place bins where residents actually walk, which is the single biggest driver of whether waste ends up in the right bin or beside it.
• Stream flexibility. A spare 660L slot can become an organics or recycling bin later without rebuilding the room.

The case for fewer, bigger bins

• Floor space. An 1100L holds more waste per square metre of bin room than the equivalent 660s. In a tight room with a wide door and dock-level access, 1100s are the efficient answer.
• Cost per litre. A collection stop is a large share of the price, so bigger bins collected weekly are usually better value per litre than more small ones.
• Chute buildings. Where a garbage chute feeds a single point, the general waste capacity has to live at the chute outlet. That concentration favours large bins there, with recycling as separate bins on each level or at a central sorting point.

The pattern that works in practice

Most strata buildings land on a hybrid: large bins (1100L where the room allows, otherwise 660s) for general waste at the collection point, and a distributed set of smaller recycling bins where residents can reach them without effort. Weekly collection is the standard cadence, confirmed in the quote, so capacity has to cover a full week including the weekend spike.

Two companion pieces go deeper: the strata and mixed-use bin plan covers the whole setup including signage and shared-cost questions, and the Sydney strata shared bin guide covers the NSW specifics, where recycling and organics streams are bookable alongside general waste.

Getting it priced

Strata setups are quoted the same way as any other business through Bin Hire Australia: enter the building's address and details in the quote flow and the exact per-collection price for each bin and stream shows in about two minutes, locked before you book, with no markup added. A vetted local provider delivers the bins, runs the weekly collections, and invoices the owners corporation directly. For a committee, that means a real number to table at the next meeting rather than an estimate to defend.