Revamping waste at Odyssey House
For therapeutic Community space Odyssey House
How Reground designed, installed and educated staff and residents to use a circular and user-friendly waste system.
Odyssey House Victoria is a state-wide, specialist treatment organisation dedicated to improving the lives of individuals who experience significant or long-term problems from alcohol and other drug use. Reground worked with their flagship therapeutic community space in Lower Plenty, a sector-leading residential rehabilitation space, to set up best practice waste systems in line with the site’s specific needs.
Odyssey House initially contracted with Reground for a waste audit and site analysis of their waste systems; the outcomes of this work were so valuable for staff and residents that we agreed to take the project a step further by overhauling the space’s waste systems in line with our findings.
The objective for Reground was to maximise resource recovery at Odyssey House by ensuring that all of the waste systems on site were effective, fit to purpose and engaging for residents and staff. By focusing on signage, education and resident engagement, we could ensure that the great environmental outcomes of the project could be long-lasting.
Reground worked in close consultation with staff to ensure the correct number of bins were installed in the areas of greatest need. By establishing waste and recycling stations (rather than individual general waste bins byeside each desk or room) we were able to quickly and effectively change waste behaviours and increase resource recovery.
As is common for residential buildings, food waste was found to be a very significant component of the residents’ general waste and quickly identified as a huge opportunity for improvement. Odyssey House is lucky to have extensive outside space, so we were able to install a range of food waste solutions - including zero maintenance on-site composting facilities for residents and staff.
Outcomes
100kg of waste audited
88% of general waste was found to be unrecovered recyclables (items that could be being recycled, but were going to waste instead)3 new waste and recycling streams established
15 new recycling stations installed
Reground’s work also identified significant inefficiencies in the site’s existing waste services, giving Odyssey House the opportunity to reduce their waste service costs by over 50%
Because Odyssey House has a diverse residential population with varied periods of residency, it was essential to the success of the project to communicate the waste and recycling changes to residents in clear, simple ways that would be available for future residents as well as present. The Reground team delivered extensive bespoke signage and educational material, including a series of simple but engaging educational videos for the future use of staff and residents.