In my building people kept throwing glass down the chute, which explodes at the bottom and injured some employees working around there. It was poorly designed, and after two injuries they welded the chutes shut and put in a trash can on every floor. I still think trash chutes are a good idea, but they have to be implemented properly.

The universal solution is also great for spreading fire. In many places the trash chute violates fire code

I lived in a recently-built high-rise in the U.S. that had a trash chute. A problem is that bags tear open easily, people throw away liquids in their bags (which leak even without tears). I've seen trails of trash juice leading from people's apartments to the trash chute, and even with the ventilation, when you open the door to the trash chute, it smells and it's dirty (because of torn bags, and the fact that the chute hatch is smaller than the average full trash bag, meaning you have to squeeze it in, usually causing more tears).

Make bigger trash chute doors, better bags, and smarter people, then trash chutes work. #1 is doable, #2 is hard because it's always a race to the bottom, and #3 is impossible.

Garbage chutes are a luxury I've only recently acquired, but it was done well in my opinion at my building. The room is tiny but enclosed with a garbage chute with a closing chute door that has a rubber gasket to seal it. Negatively pressurized so any remaining smells aren't pushed into the hallway. Everything goes down to a compactor in a ventilated utility room. How it's processed from there, I'm not sure but smell certainly isn't an issue.