No reason a recycling facility can’t have an attractive design, right? As long as it isn’t expensive.
Michael Kimmelman wrote for the NY Times last month about a municipal facility that must make the recycling staff there feel good about going to work.
“Recycling in New York is a scrappy business,” Kimmelman writes. “Billions have gone toward building water tunnels, power plants, subways and sewage treatment facilities, but little toward an infrastructure of recycling. …
“But a Sims Municipal Recycling Facility will open shortly at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park. The city’s first big, state-of-the-art plant for processing discarded plastic, metals and glass, it promises jobs to nearby residents and, as the cost of exporting garbage out of state rises, some savings for the city. …
“The facility is understated, well proportioned and well planned — elegant, actually, and not just for a garbage site. It is an ensemble of modernist boxes squeezing art, and even a little drama, from a relatively meager design budget. …
“Instead of letting engineers design the plant, as often happens at an industrial site, Sims hired Selldorf Architects, a glamorous New York firm known for doing Chelsea art galleries and cultural institutions. …
“The idea? Partly to game the public review process, but also to build a well-designed plant — welcoming to the public, beckoning from the waterfront.” More here.
Photo: Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times
A look inside the new Sims Municipal Recycling Facility in Brooklyn.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
This is really informative post and I personally would like to appreciate the efforts. We are also dealing in same field hence found this informative to add in our process also. Once again thanks for your post.
How do you find these great stories? Maybe I can visit this facility when I am in NYC this week…
Really? Will you be in Brooklyn? It would be awesome to have a comment later if you go there.
I am visiting friends, one of whom is an urban planner…these are the things that we both get excited about! I will let you know if we make it there.
Very cool. Thanks.