Evolution of Solid Waste Management Techniques in Usa

EVOLUTION OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN USA
1.0
The Solid Waste Challenge The most amazing feature of the garbage
crisis of the 1990s is that it is the direct result of environmental progress
in waste disposal technology.1 On average, every American throws away
more than 2 pounds of solid waste each day.2 Americans use and then
discard glass containers, paper and plastic packaging, newspapers,
broken toys, food scraps, steel cans, grass clippings, old televisions,
worn-out appliances, office paper, textiles, cardboard boxes, tires, paper
plates, plastic spoons, disposable diapers, aluminum cans, and more. No
one knows for sure how much solid waste Americans produce each year,
because no one has systematically studied solid waste generation in the
United States. Using information about the number of products
manufactured and sold, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) estimated that the United States produced 207 million tons of
solid waste in 1993. When BioCycle magazine asked each state for
information about the total amount of waste put in landfills or recycled
in 1993, it discovered that the amount of waste managed as municipal
solid waste (MSW) totaled 307 million tons! MSW includes not only
residential solid waste but also a variety of nonhazardous discards from
commercial, institutional, and industrial sources. The difference in the
two estimates may be due to the almost 100 million tons of industrial,
agricultural, and construction wastes that do not qualify as MSW, but get
thrown away in MSW landfills anyway. Remarkably, total solid waste
generation may have been even higher than either estimate. Many
companies managed their nonhazardous waste on site, and the waste was
not counted in either BioCycles or EPAs estimate. Curiously, most
Americans do not worry very much about solid waste. They simply fill
up their trash cans and recycling bins, and set them out for the local
garbage collector. As long as the 3 collection trucks arrive on schedule,
solid waste management remains essentially out of sight and out of
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mind. Nevertheless, local governments and private service providers

must manage enormous quantities of solid waste. A small city with
100,000 people handles more than 1,100 tons of residential solid waste
every week. A metropolitan area with one million inhabitants has to
manage more than 11,000 tons of residential solid waste in a week.
Throughout the nation, waste management professionals handle more
than 3 million tons of residential solid waste every week. The good news
is that solid waste is now managed responsibly most of the time. Thanks
to government regulation, improved technology, and better methods,
solid waste management professionals routinely safeguard the publics
health and prevent pollution. Solid waste management no longer
includes incinerators without emissions controls, ocean dumping, or
open dumps teeming with vermin and toxic chemicals leaching into nearby
wells and rivers. Todays solid waste management systems work far better than
those Americans relied upon in 1960. Even so, there are still problems to be solved
in solid waste management. Litter remains a chronic problem; some older landfills
continue to threaten the quality of groundwater; landfills discharge an as-yetundetermined amount of methane (a potent greenhouse gas) into the atmosphere;
and the environmental effects of recycling have yet to be fully measured. And we
still need to study the economics of solid waste management, one of the most
challenging public works services. The Generation of Solid Waste The amount of
solid waste produced each year in the United States has either doubled or tripled
from 88 million tons in 1960 to between 207 and 307 million tons in 1993,
depending on which estimate you believe. However, there are virtually no data
regarding MSW generation in 1960 and only incomplete data for 1993. The figure
88 million tons is, at best, an educated guess based on some limited information on
industrial production at the time. The 1993 estimates are based on better
information, but the newer estimates are still educated guesses, not exact
measurements. Guessing is the best we can do until it becomes a priority to gather
adequate information regarding the amounts and kinds of wastes Americans
produce and manage as solid waste. There are several reasons for increased solid
waste generation in the United States. To begin with, there are 80 million more
Americans today than there were in 1960. In addition, we use more paper and
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plastic packaging than ever before. The use of office paper has mushroomed in the
wake of computers and copy machines. Disposable items (such as diapers, paper
plates, razors, paperback books, and magazines) are increasingly popular. And
when people have more money to spend (as they did from 1960 through 1976, for
instance), they often create more solid waste. Taken together, these factors have
fueled a steady increase in the amount of solid waste generated. Per capita MSW
generation has grown from about 2.7 pounds per day in 1960 to todays record 4.4
pounds per day, according to EPA estimates. But, there is a bright spot in this
picture: per capita waste generation is now holding steady; by 2000, it may even
fall slightly. Waste generation is finally leveling off because efforts to minimize
waste and encourage recycling may have stopped the upward spiral. However,
actually reducing the amount of solid waste Americans create each year remains an
elusive goal. The Management of Solid Waste Solid waste management has
changed in important ways in the past 30 years. Across the nation, modern, welldesigned landfills and waste-to-energy plants have replaced open dumps and
polluting incinerators. Recycling has become an integral part of solid waste
management in most communities. The nation as a whole is committed to safer,
more environmentally responsible management of solid waste. Even though
recycling is an expensive alternative to traditional solid waste management
methods, more than 40% of Americans now have access to curbside collection
programs for recyclable materials. Recyclings supporters include solid waste
management professionals, industry, universities, politicians, and ordinary people
from all walks of life. Recycling is an important component of resource recovery,
which includes the recovery of energy and materials from solid waste. Since 1970,
an emphasis on resource recovery has helped people to see their waste as a
resource for materials and energy. As a result, leaders from the public and private
sectors have begun to think about making waste management planning part of
manufacturing, transportation, and other segments of the economy In the past,
public works managers simply scrambled to dispose of solid waste as it appeared.
Because there was no mechanism to help people make the connection between the
production of goods and services and waste, there was no easy solution for the
solid waste problem once it got out of control. Instead, the nation has had to resort
to punitive measures designed to remedy years of environmental neglect. State
agencies, local governments, and private companies have all played roles in
improving Americas solid waste management. Since 1963, the federal government
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has worked with both the public and private sectors to improve solid waste
management standards, while leaving implementation of those standards to local
governments. Role of Local Governments Local governments collect and manage
solid waste as part of their responsibility for protecting human health. There is no
single system for accomplishing these tasks. The composition and amount of solid
waste vary from community to community. The amount of landfill space available,
capacity for waste combustion, support for recycling and composting, public
attitudes, financial constraints, and regulations also vary from region to region. All
local solid waste management systems consist of the same basic elements:
collection, hauling, recycling, combustion, and landfilling. Waste management also
includes planning. Local governments handle solid waste collection in three basic
ways: Some use municipal employees to collect solid waste and transport it to a
materials recovery facility, waste-to-energy plant or landfill; others contract with
private companies for solid waste collection and transport; and the remainder rely
on private haulers to serve customers directly. On average, about 65% of the cost
of solid waste management goes for collection and transport. There are advantages
and disadvantages to using municipal staff to collect solid waste. Municipalities are
exempt from paying taxes and are not required to earn a profit. These factors can
provide an economic advantage to a municipal agency over a private contractor.
There are some disadvantages as well. For example, municipally operated waste
services may be expensive for small communities, particularly if they lack access
to a nearby landfill or materials recovery facility. The majority of the nations cities
and towns now contract with private service providers to collect their solid waste.
Many local governments work on creating economic incentives for reducing solid
waste. These communities have adopted a unit pricing systemcharges are based
upon the amount of solid waste set out for collection and disposal. Some cities do
not charge for items set out for recycling; others charge proportionally for these
services as well. Once solid waste is collected, local governments may choose to
operate one or more of the following: a landfill, a composting facility, a recycling
program, or a waste-to-energy plant. Or they may contract for such services with
private companies. Regardless of which methods are used, local governments are
responsible for ensuring that waste is collected, stored, and managed in a manner
that is both safe and sanitary. Local governments often work with state and federal
agencies in solid waste planning. Regional Waste Management Many communities
have four things in common: growing population, increasing amounts of solid
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waste, rising costs, and a mandate to meet stringent federal and state standards for
waste combustion and landfilling. As a result, local governments have begun to
work together to develop regional strategies for managing solid waste. Such
strategies include the creation of large, regional 4 landfills; the building of
materials recovery facilities that accept waste from an entire county; or the
operation of a waste-to-energy facility that serves a large metropolitan area and
surrounding communities. Other collaborative efforts include marketing recovered
materials, working to attract new regional remanufacturing facilities, and
purchasing large volumes of recycled products. Such endeavors allow
municipalities to share resources and more equitably distribute costs. Role of
States During the past 30 years, state governments have regulated solid waste
management. They have responded to federal solid waste initiatives by creating
state solid waste agencies, developing state-wide solid waste management plans,
and enacting laws to regulate local solid waste management practices. State laws
often encourage local governments to implement waste reduction, recycling, and
one or more specific disposal methods. State solid waste regulations tend to be
more encompassing than federal regulations. States are responsible for ensuring
that federal solid waste regulations are enforced. For the most part, states develop
solid waste policies but leave their implementation to local governments. Some
states provide technical assistance to local governments in creating and
implementing solid waste plans. A few state solid waste agencies actively
encourage recycling market development. Incentives, such as tax credits, lowinterest loans, and grants, exist in a few locations to help stabilize and strengthen
markets. Other states have implemented strategies for purchasing recycled
materials. Many states have also enacted regulations for landfills and waste-toenergy facilities. Role of Private Service Providers Private companies have
assumed a significant role in the collection and management of solid waste. The
private solid waste industry expanded during the 1980s when federal, state, and
local regulations instituted stricter environmental controls on solid waste
management. Local governments opted to contract with industry to implement the
complex, and potentially costly, new solid waste regulations. Large, private waste
management companies also responded to the nations interest in recycling. By
1989, private companies collected about two-thirds of the materials recovered for
recycling and processed nearly 80% of total recovered materials. The solid waste
industry has proven that it is possible to do right by the environment and make a
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profit. The nation is three largest solid waste companies offer collection, hauling,
and disposal services, which together produced revenues in excess of $17 billion in
1994. More than 50 smaller companies, each with annual sales of millions of
dollars, also provided solid waste management services. Of these, about 30
specialized in the recovery or remanufacturing of waste materials. Industry
revenues for managing America is solid waste in 1994 totaled $54.2 billion. Local
governments paid $31 billion for private trash collection, transportation, and
management. Consulting engineering fees cost another $1.25 billion. Resource
recovery brought private industry another $15 billion. Equipment, instruments, and
computer systems accounted for the remainder of the cost for managing America is
solid waste. The actual cost of solid waste management probably exceeded $54.2
billion because many local governments (rather than contracting with industry)
paid staff to collect, transport, and dispose of solid waste. Unfortunately, these
costs have not yet been tallied for the country as a whole. 5 Role of the Federal
Government Since 1965, the federal government has sponsored programs to help
states and local governments safely and responsibly manage solid waste. The
regulation of solid waste combustors and landfills has been a top federal priority.
Since the late 1970s, federal regulations have pushed states, local governments,
and private service providers to develop better methods to protect public health and
the environment. The development of new technologies has been a high priority.
Many different agencies sponsored MSW research: the U.S. Public Health Service,
the Bureau of Mines, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, EPA, the
Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
The federal government also evaluated waste-to-energy systems, encouraged
recycling, and developed concepts for integrated waste management. Federal
monies were used to assist states with solid waste management planning and in
establishing agencies to oversee solid waste management. The impact of the
federal solid waste program was far reaching. In 1960, Americans recycled less
than 6 million tons of MSW, or about 7% of the total MSW generated. In 1993,
they recycled and composted 22% of the nation is total MSW generation, 45
million tons. During the same period, manufacturers developed methods for
making lighter-weight glass, paper, plastic products, and packaging, reducing the
amount of waste. Open dumps were closed for good and replaced by landfills
designed to protect the environment from air and water pollution. Ocean dumping
of waste stopped. Municipal incinerators were shut down and replaced by modern
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waste-to-energy plants with stringent air-emissions controls. Old-style incinerators

had been responsible for about 18% of the black smoke hanging over U.S. cities
(Melosi 1981a). Todays waste-to-energy plants produce less pollution than other
kinds of power plants and produce enough electricity to light more than a million
homes (AIMS Coalition 1994). Despite these accomplishments, the current system
could be better. The nation is growing population and its relative affluence
continues to foster solid waste generation. Local governments need new
technologies and analytical methods for recovering energy and materials from solid
waste. Manufacturers and consumers need assistance in reducing the amount of
solid waste they create. Even though the federal government has gained a general
understanding of solid waste management, it never systematically collected
information on state and local solid waste programs. Information, particularly at
the local level, remains largely anecdotal. Not surprisingly, state and local
governments use many different approaches to managing solid waste, and there are
insufficient data to determine which methods work best. Managing America is
Solid Waste describes the federal role in developing better ways to manage the
nation is solid waste. It highlights legislation, regulation, the development of solid
waste management technologies, and other federal programs aimed at improving
solid waste management. This book provides a history of the period from 1965 to
1995 when federal, state, and local governments worked together to improve solid
waste management in the United States. Chapter 2, From Refuse to Solid Waste,
discusses the goals of solid waste management in the context of a historical
overview of solid waste management in the United States. The chapter highlights
efforts by visionary public works managers 100 years ago to introduce methods for
safeguarding public health into urban waste management. It discusses events since
1965 that led to the integration of environmental protection into solid waste
management. Finally, it talks about using responsible solid waste management
planning to wisely manage material and energy resources. 6 Chapter 3, Federal
Role in Solid Waste Management, describes federal efforts to improve municipal
waste management between 1965 and 1995. The chapter highlights the legislation
that laid the groundwork for improving solid waste management and provides an
overview of solid waste regulations mandated by these laws. The chapter also
briefly describes the federal agencies that implemented the federal MSW program.
Chapters 4 to 7 describe the evolution of key MSW management technologies and
methods, including waste minimization, materials recovery, composting, energy
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recovery, and landfilling. These chapters describe the role of federal research and
development in the evolution of more efficient and low-cost solid waste
management technologies and methods. Chapter 8, Waste Management Today,
discusses how communities are integrating their waste management services to
better safeguard the public health, protect the environment, and keep costs under
control. The chapter highlights contemporary waste management issues, including
landfill practices, flow control, federal regulation, and technology research and
development. It concludes with a discussion of whether the nation still needs a
federal solid waste program.
The first US incinerator was built in 1885 on Governors

Island in New York, NY.[
Incineration in North America[edit]
The first incinerator in the U.S. was built in 1885 on Governors Island in New
York.[55] In 1949, Robert C. Ross founded one of the first hazardous waste
management companies in the U.S. He began Robert Ross Industrial Disposal
because he saw an opportunity to meet the hazardous waste management needs of
companies in northern Ohio. In 1958, the company built one of the first hazardous
waste incinerators in the U.S.[56]
The first full-scale, municipally operated incineration facility in the U.S. was the
Arnold O. Chantland Resource Recovery Plant, built in 1975 and located in Ames,
Iowa. This plant is still in operation and produces refuse-derived fuel that is sent to
local power plants for fuel.[57] The first commercially successful incineration plant
in the U.S. was built in Saugus, Massachusetts in October 1975 by Wheelabrator
Technologies, and is still in operation today.[29]
There are several environmental or waste management corporations that transport
ultimately to an incinerator or cement kiln treatment center. Currently (2009), there
are three main businesses that incinerate waste: Clean Harbors, WTI-Heritage, and
Ross Incineration Services. Clean Harbors has acquired many of the smaller,
independently run facilities, accumulating 57 incinerators in the process across
the U.S. WTI-Heritage has one incinerator, located in the southeastern corner
of Ohio across the Ohio River from West Virginia.[citation needed]
Several old generation incinerators have been closed; of the 186 MSW incinerators
in 1990, only 89 remained by 2007, and of the 6200 medical waste incinerators in
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1988, only 115 remained in 2003.[58] No new incinerators were built between 1996
and 2007.[citation needed]The main reasons for lack of activity have been:
Economics. With the increase in the number of large inexpensive regional

landfills and, up until recently, the relatively low price of electricity,
incinerators were not able to compete for the 'fuel', i.e., waste in the U.S.[citation
needed]
Tax policies. Tax credits for plants producing electricity from waste were
rescinded in the U.S. between 1990 and 2004.[citation needed]
There has been renewed interest in incineration and other waste-to-energy

technologies in the U.S. and Canada. In the U.S., incineration was granted
qualification for renewable energy production tax credits in 2004.[59] Projects to add
capacity to existing plants are underway, and municipalities are once again
evaluating the option of building incineration plants rather than continue
landfilling municipal wastes. However, many of these projects have faced
continued political opposition in spite of renewed arguments for the greenhouse
gas benefits of incineration and improved air pollution control and ash recycling.
The industrial revolution brought large increases to the population of cities in
Europe and the U.S. In the U.S., these increases and their attendant problems
lagged behind those of Europe until the latter half of the nineteenth century. Thus
in the first federal census of 1790, city dwellers accounted for only 5.1% of the
U.S. population and there were only 24 cities; two with populations exceeding
25,000. In 1840 city dwellers were 10.8% of the population, the number of cities
was 131 and the population of New York City exceeded 250,000.5 Up to this time,
the relative abundance of land and water resources available to even cities and
towns in America, eased the pressure of large scale sanitation problems
experienced by their European counterparts. By 1920 the urban population of
America was 51% and the number of cities had increased to 2,722. Thus, the
industrial revolution transformed America into an urban nation and by the early
twentieth century made it ripe for the growing pains that had already been visited
upon Europe. Notable among these was the problem of urban sanitation.
Arguments given against WTE: Excerpts of an article 07-12-06: There

are basically two problems with incinerators no matter what name you
may give them. First, they produce dangerous wastes in the form of
gases and ash, often creating entirely new hazards, like dioxins and
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furans, that were not present in the raw waste. Secondly -- and even
more importantly -- incinerators destroy materials that must then be
replaced. Incinerators prevent us from adopting sensible modern ways
of doing business, namely "zero waste" and "clean production. People
who think we can make the transition to a sustainable economy without
stopping incinerators (in all their forms) are badly mistaken. Once you
build an incinerator, you must "feed the machine" for the next 40 years
to get your investment back. Once you build an incinerator, resource
conservation, recycling and waste reduction become "the enemy"
because the machine must have a new load of fresh garbage every day.
The machine needs waste, so its very existence serves as a major
deterrent to less wasteful life styles and ways of doing business. In sum:
incinerators promote waste. They thrive on waste. They need waste.
They demand waste, Incinerators are a major deterrent to clean
production, full recycling, resource conservation, zero waste, and a
sustainable economy. Predictably, pre-industrial societies had recycling
and recovery programs that encouraged conservation and reuse.
Traditionally, recovered materials included leather, feathers, and textiles.
Timber was often salvaged and reused in construction and shipbuilding.
Materials, such as gold, were melted down and re-cast numerous times.
Recycling even extended to include feeding vegetable wastes to
livestock and using green waste as fertilizer. Therefore, humans have
been attempting to manage the waste product created by their societies
for centuries. Fortunately, the sheer volume of waste that had to be
oversaw in these manners before the industrial revolution was not as
excessive as today. At the dawn of industrialization, a fundamental shift
occurred in waste management. City populations increased, space for
waste disposal decreased, and societies were forced to begin developing
waste disposal systems. New technologies were often viewed as the
medium that a solution to the waste management problem would be
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found through. In 1874 the City of Nottingham, England turned to a

new technology known as the destructor in order to manage garbage
through a process of systematic burning, later known as incineration.
The first incinerator in the United States was built only 11 years later in
1885 on Governors Island, New York. The United States, even with its
seemingly endless resources and their new technologies has taken great
strides, but has yet to resolve, the issue of municipal waste management.
This is not due to a lack of effort, but to the complexity of creating
policies and government regulations that curtail the problem. One
component of the complexity of the matter is the need to designing a
MSW plan that sets definitions for the different types of waste
1885- First incinerator plant established at governors island
1898- First recycling program enacted
1902- MSWM was normal in most of the cities
1959- ASCE published sanitary landfills
1965- solid waste disposal act
1970- resource recovery act
1972- first WTE facility built in Harrisburg, PA
1976- Resource conservation and recovery act
1990- EPA enacts maximum achievable control technologies
Today there are 84 WTE plants in USA
In 1958 Bell Laboratories in the US, along with a number of universities
and organizations around the world, started R&D programs to examine
the usefulness of pyrolysis. These systems often focussed on the
production of gas from waste materials. The first Pyrolytic Gasification
systems were firebrick ovens that used indirect heat in a low oxygen
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environment. These early systems were batch processes: ovens were

filled, sealed and then heat was applied. After each batch the oven would
be cleaned and readied for the next batch. The first commercial versions
of pyrolysis batch systems for gasification were introduced in the
hospital sector in the early 1970s, but due to low volume capacity and
issues with the mortar used in the kiln construction they had limited
commercial success. In the late 70s and early 80s the batch systems gave
way to continuous feed systems with a cone design that made the
evacuation of the gasses more efficient. The continuous feed cone design
first showed up in England then the US, Germany, Japan, Canada and
the Netherlands.
During the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, Europe and the
United States were rapidly developing in areas of product innovation,
machinery development, and trade. These advances were stimulated by
the availability of raw materials and growing ranks of laborers. This
time of growth also created significantly greater amounts of waste.
Government officials and the public alike were concerned. To avoid the
potential problems associated with unmanaged waste in urban areas,
the Age of Sanitation began. Many communities organized waste
collection and instituted disposal systems in this sweeping effort aimed
at maintaining public health.
These efforts did not put an end to scavengers, who performed a
recycling function by selling what they could find in the rubbish. They
were even able to sell dog feces, used by tanners for treating leather.
Scavengers could be innovative. In England, scavengers were even
classified by what they collected. They included:
Toshers, who worked in the sewers and were able to find coins,
bits of metal, ropes and sometimes even jewelry.
Mud-larks, who scavenged river banks for salvageable material.
Dustmen, who collected ash from coal fires. These men, women
and children worked at dust yards to sieve the brieze (coarse section
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of the dust) from the finer portions so it could be used as a soil

conditioner. The fines could be mixed with clay to make bricks.
Timeline
1657
New Amsterdam (now New York) passes a law against dumping waste in
the streets.
1690
Rittenhouse Mill, Americas first paper mill, opens in Philadelphia and
made paper from recycled cotton, linen, and used paper.
1710
Colonists in Virginia commonly bury their trash. Holes are filled with
building debris, broken glass or ceramic objects, oyster shells and
animal bones. They also throw away hundreds of suits of armor that
were sent to protect them from arrows of native inhabitants.
1739
Benjamin Franklin leads an effort to petition the Pennsylvania Assembly
to stop commercial waste dumping in Philadelphia and remove
tanneries from Philadelphias commercial district, which some
historians consider the beginning of the environmental movement.
1757
Benjamin Franklin starts the first American municipal street-cleaning
operation in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
1776
The first metal recycling in America occurs when patriots in New York
City melted down a statue of King George III and made it into bullets.
1792
Benjamin Franklin uses slaves to carry Philadelphias waste
downstream.
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1834
Charleston, WV, enacts a law protecting vultures from hunters, as the
birds helped eat the citys garbage.
1842
A report in Great Britain links disease to filthy environmental conditions
and helps launch the Age of Sanitation.
1848
The Public Health Act of 1848 begins the process of waste regulation in
Britain.
1850
Junk dealers in Reno, NV, scavenge personal belongings from the
Oregon, Santa Fe and California trails, where pioneers had abandoned
items on their long trek west.
1860
Residents of Washington, DC, dump garbage and slop into alleys and
streets, resulting in animals like pigs and dogs roaming freely
throughout the city. Rats and cockroaches infest most dwellings,
including the White House.
1864
Health officials in Memphis, TN, hypothesize a possible correlation
between the spread of Yellow Fever in the Memphis area and the
garbage being dumped throughout the city. To reduce the threat of
disease, residents are told to take their garbage to specific locations on
the edge of town.
1866
New York Citys Metropolitan Board of Health declares war on
garbage, forbidding the throwing of dead animals, garbage or ashes
into the streets. (Years later, it is reported that New York scavengers
still removed 15,000 horse carcasses annually, most of which had
belonged to the city and pulled street cars.)
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1872
New York stops dumping its garbage from a platform built over the East
River (but they continue dumping it into the Atlantic Ocean for
decades).
1874
Energy from waste begins its development in Great Britain as the first
destructor is designed and constructed in Nottingham. Destructors
are prototype incineration plants that burn mixed fuel producing steam
to generate electricity. Over the next 30 years, 250 destructors are built,
but they fall out of favor because emissions (ashes, dust, charred paper,
etc.) fall onto surrounding neighborhoods.
1875
In order to prevent mass scavenging and to cleanup the country, the
British Public Health Act of 1875 is created to give authority to waste
collection. From this act comes the first concept of a movable garbage
receptacle. This first concept is created to store ash waste and is
collected/emptied weekly.
1878
Memphis, TN, Mayor John Flippin organizes garbage collection at
homes and businesses using small wooden carts pulled by mules.
1880
Historical data shows that less than one quarter of Americas cities can
boast of a municipally organized system for disposing of waste.
1885
The first American garbage incinerator is built on Governors Island,
NY. (Over the next two decades, nearly 200 garbage incinerators are
built throughout the United States.)
1889
In Washington, DC, a health officer reports that Appropriate places for
[refuse] are becoming scarcer year by year, and the question as to some
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other method of disposal ... must soon confront us. Already the
inhabitants in proximity to the public dumps are beginning to
complain...
1890
The British Paper Company is established specifically to make paper
and board from recycled materials. The recycled materials are obtained
from organizations such as the Salvation Army and rag-and-bone men.
It is reported that as many as 750,000 watermelon rinds are discarded
during the summer months in New York.
1893
The Boston Sanitary Committee finds that to get rid of their garbage
and avoid paying fees for its collection, a number of citizens burned it,
wrapped it up in paper and carried it on their way to work and dropped
it when unobserved, or threw it into vacant lots or into the river.
1894
Harpers Weekly reports that ...the garbage problem is the one question
of sanitation that is uppermost in the minds of local authorities [in the
United States].
The citizens of Alexandria, VA, become disgusted by the sight of barge
loads of garbage floating down the Potomac River from Washington,
DC. They start sinking the barges upriver from their community.
1895
New Yorks Street Cleaning Commissioner organizes the first U.S.
comprehensive system of public-sector garbage management. The
service employs 2,000 white-clad employees, known as White Wings,
to clear the streets and cart off garbage to dumps, incinerators, the
Atlantic Ocean and the very first U.S. waste sorting plant for recycling.
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I
mages from a film by Thomas Edison of the New York City
White Wings marching in a parade. Watch the video and more at
the Library of Congress
1896
Waste reduction plants, which compress organic wastes to extract
grease, oils, and other by-products, are introduced to the U.S. from
Vienna. These plants later are closed because of their noxious
emissions.
1899
The Federal Rivers and Harbors Act restricts dumping in all navigable
rivers in order to keep them open for shipping.
Our modern era has been marked by Europe, the United States
and other parts of the developed world establishing more
organized waste collection and landfill programs. A variety of
regulations affecting solid waste management have been
imposed, and technologies have evolved to dramatically
improve the waste industry and in turn human health and wellbeing.
In 1900, there was still significant progress to be made. For
instance, piggeries were facilities where swine were fed fresh or
cooked garbage. This clearly had potential public health
implications. An expert estimates that 75 pigs could consume 1
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ton of refuse per day. Though efficient in processing garbage,

the practice fell out of favor (so much so that some 400,000
hogs were slaughtered in the mid-1950s to prevent the spread of
disease).
I
mages from a film by Thomas Edison of a barge being
loaded with trash from two-wheeled, horse-drawn
wagons. Probably filmed on the East River, this is one of
several New York City Sanitation Department dumping
wharves in operation at the time. Watch the video and
learn more at the Library of Congress.
By 1910, nearly 80 percent of American cities had some sort of
organized solid waste collection. The earliest of these involved
men collecting waste with horse or mule-drawn carts. With the
advent of the automobile, garbage trucks began to roll on
American streets
By the 1920s, dumps became a popular waste disposal method
in which wetlands were simply filled with layers of garbage, ash
and dirt. They are a far cry from todays landfills. Modern
landfillsare highly technical enterprises that are built with
safety and environmental protection in mind, carefully
engineered and monitored to protect the groundwater, minimize
Page | 18
odors and pests, control emissions, and increasingly, to serve as

sources of energy generation.
The composition of waste has changed over the last century.
Many people now live in apartments and fewer people cook or
heat with fires that produce ash and cinders. Changes in society
such as increased mobility with the automobile, the rise of
supermarkets and a steep rise in packaging have led to modern
living standards that include dedicated waste management
regimes.
Composition of Waste (UK, 1892-2002)
Sources: Atkinson, W.
and New, R. (1993) An Overview of the Impact of Source
Separation Schemes on the Domestic Waste Stream in the
UK and Their Relevance to the Governments Recycling
Target, Warren Spring Laboratory, Stevenage, Herts.,
Startegy Unit (2002) Waste Not Want Not.
The passage of the Clean Air Act in the United States in 1970
led to the closure of many early incinerators without air
Page | 19
pollution controls. These incinerators have been replaced by

modern waste-to-energy plants that include pollution controls
adept at removing particles and reducing gas emissions to
minute levels while producing enough electricity to power more
than 1 million homes.
In recent decades, the solid waste industry has pioneered other
technologies, such as recycling, recognizing that todays waste
stream is the feedstock for tomorrows products. In a relatively
short time frame, recycling has become a fully-developed
technology. As of 2012, more than 34.5 percent of American
municipal solid waste is recycled or composted, conserving vital
resources and energy, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and
protecting air and water quality.
The solid waste industry now serves more as a resource
management industry. It continues to lead in responding to the
most pressing environmental concerns of the day. Today, we are
leaders in responding to concerns raised by climate change, the
most dominant global environmental issue. Industry innovation
allows us to capture greenhouse gas from landfills, use it as a
source of renewable and sustainable energy, and reduce our
dependence on fossil fuels and foreign oil.
Timeline
1902
127 U.S. cities surveyed in a Massachusetts Institute of
Technology study provide regular collection of refuse.
Page | 20
1904
The nations first two major aluminum recycling plants open in
Cleveland and Chicago.
1905
New York begins using a garbage incinerator to generate
electricity to light the Williamsburg Bridge.
1909
By this year, 102 of 180 incinerators built since 1885 have been
abandoned or dismantled. Many had been inadequately built or
run.
City beautification programs become more and more popular.
Many cities have juvenile sanitation leagues whose members
pledge to keep streets and neighborhoods clean. Sanitation
workers often wear white uniforms, suggestive of other public
workers such as doctors and nurses.
1911
In the New York boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Bronx,
citizens produce about 4.58 pounds of refuse each day. Yearly
collection per capita includes 141 pounds of wet garbage, 1,443
pounds of ash and 88 pounds of dry rubbish.
1917
Shortages of raw materials during World War I prompt the
federal government to start the Waste Reclamation Service, part
of the War Industries Board. Its motto is Dont Waste Waste Save It. At this time, the U.S. is producing 15,000 tons of paper
a day using 5,000 tons of old paper in the process.
Page | 21
1918
U.S. cities begin switching from horse-drawn to motorized
refuse collection equipment.
1932
Austrian inventor Jacob Ochsner and French inventor Ferrnand
Rey begin building hydraulic rear loader compactor trucks in
Europe.
1933
Communities on the New Jersey shore obtain a court order
forcing New York to stop dumping garbage in the Atlantic
Ocean. On July 1, 1934, the Supreme Court upholds the lower
court action, but applies it only to municipal waste, not
commercial or industrial waste.
1937
The first American mass-production, hydraulic rear-load refuse
packer compactor truck (Load Packer by Garwood) is
introduced. It is patented in 1938. Due to World War II, it will
not be widely used until the late 1940s. Following the war, three
major competitors (Sicard, Leach and Heil) will introduce
competing products.
1942-45
Americans collect rubber, paper, scrap metal, fats, and tin cans
to help the war effort. The sudden surge of waste paper loads
markets and prices drop from $9 to $3 per ton.
1959
The American Society of Civil Engineers published the standard
guide to sanitary landfilling. To guard against rodents and
Page | 22
odors, the guide suggested compacting the refuse and covering

it with a layer of soil each day.
1962
The National Solid Wastes Management Association is founded.
NSWMA is the trade association representing for-profit
companies in North America that provide solid, hazardous and
medical waste collection, recycling and disposal services.
1965
The first federal solid waste management law, the Solid Waste
Disposal Act, authorizes research and provides for state grants.
1968
By this year, more than 33 percent of U.S. cities collect waste
that is separated in some manner.
President Johnson commissions the National Survey of
Community Solid Waste Practices, providing the first
comprehensive data on solid waste since the 1800s.
1970
The U.S. celebrates the first Earth Day on April 22.
The Resource Recovery Act amends the Solid Waste Disposal
Act and requires the federal government to issue waste disposal
guidelines.
The Clean Air Act establishes federal authority to fight urban
smog and air toxins. The new regulations lead to the closure of
many earlier-constructed incinerators that could not adequately
control their air pollution.
Page | 23
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is created.

1971
Oregon passes the nations first bottle bill. By offering cash for
aluminum, glass and plastic containers, it removes about 7
percent of its garbage from the waste stream.
1972
The Federal Clean Water Act is enacted to restore and maintain
the chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nations
waters.
The first buy-back centers for recyclables are opened in
Washington state. They accept beer bottles, aluminum cans and
newspapers.
1974
The first city-wide use of curbside recycling bins occurs in
University City, MO, for collecting newspapers.
1975
By this time, all 50 states have some solid waste regulations,
although content varies widely from state to state.
1976
The passage of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
creates the first significant role for federal government in waste
management. The law emphasizes recycling and conserving
energy and other resources, and launches the nations
hazardous waste management program.
1978
The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act is passed following
Page | 24
the Arab oil embargo. The act guarantees a market for energy
created by small power producers and encourages growth of the
waste-to-energy industry and methane recovery from landfills.
The U.S. Supreme Court rules that garbage is protected by the
dormant Commerce Clause; therefore, New Jersey cannot ban
shipments of waste from Pennsylvania.
1979
EPA issues landfill criteria that prohibit open dumping.
1984
During the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, athletes, trainers,
coaches and spectators produce 6.5 million pounds of trash in
22 days, more than 6 pounds per person per day (compared to
the national average of 3.6 pounds produced per person per day
at the time).
Hazardous and Solid Waste Act amendments and
reauthorization to the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
require tougher federal regulation of landfills.
1986
Rhode Island enacts the nations first statewide mandatory
recycling law, including aluminum and steel cans, glass,
newspapers and #1 and #2 plastic. Citizens and businesses are
required to separate recyclables from trash.
Fresh Kills on Staten Island, NY, becomes the largest landfill in
the world.
1987
Mobro 4000, the Islip, NY, garbage barge is rejected by six
Page | 25
states and three countries. The barge garners lots of media

attention and becomes a symbol for limited landfill capacity in
the Northeast. The garbage is finally incinerated in New York
and the ash brought to a landfill near Islip.
1988
EPA estimates that more than 14,000 landfills closed since 1978,
more than 70 percent of those that had been operating at that
time.
Lacking disposal capacity, New Jersey exports more than 50
percent of its solid waste to neighboring states.
The Plastic Bottle Institute develops a material-identification

code system for plastic bottle manufacturers (the current #1-#7
resin identification system).
1989
Twenty-six states have passed comprehensive laws making
recycling an integral part of waste management. Seven states
require curbside separation of recyclables.
Between 1986 and 1989, 33 states consider or enact restrictions
on out-of-state waste.
Arizona archeologist William Rathje recovers corn on the cob
intact after 18 years in an Arizona landfill. His research
Page | 26
indicates that some types of landfills have limited

biodegradability.
Sudden growth in curbside collection of newspaper gluts the
market. Prices drop to zero and some communities pay to have
material taken away.
1990
140 recycling laws have been enacted in 38 states and the
District of Columbia.
McDonalds announces plans to stop the use of polystyrene
packaging of its food due to consumer protests.
Both Coca-Cola and Pepsi announced that they will begin using
a bottle made of about 25 percent recycled plastic resin.
1991
EPA releases landfill standards that included requirements for
location, groundwater protection and monitoring and postclosure care.
1994
The U.S. Supreme Courts decision in C.A. Carbone v. Town of
Clarkstown, declares that flow control requirements are
unconstitutional. Flow control refers to laws or policies that
require or encourage waste materials to be disposed at
designated disposal facilities.
NSWMA and the Waste Equipment Technology Association
(WASTEC) merge to form the Environmental Industry
Associations.
Page | 27
1995
This year the number of landfills in the U.S. is approximately
2,800, down from an estimated 20,000 landfills in 1970. This
significant decrease in the number of landfills in the U.S. is due
to landfill closures forced by stricter regulatory programs.
1997
The U.S. recycles 22.4 percent of the municipal solid waste
stream compared to a 6.4 percent recycling rate in 1960. The
U.S. composts 5.6 percent of the waste stream, incinerates 16.9
percent, and landfills the remaining 55.1 percent.
1998
At this time, average state landfill capacity is more than 16
years.
The national average landfill tipping fee is $32, compared to a
national average incinerator tipping fee of nearly $60 per ton.
2002
New Yorks Fresh Kills Landfill is closed. The New York City
Department of Parks and Recreation announces a plan to
convert the former landfill into one of the nations largest city
parks. Overtaking Fresh Kills in area measure are the Apex
Regional Landfill in Apex, NV, and the Puente Hills Landfill in
Whittier, CA.
2007
According to the U.S. EPA, Americans recycle and compost 33.4
percent of the municipal solid waste stream, compared to a 6.4
percent recycling rate in 1960. The United States incinerates
Page | 28
12.6 percent of the waste stream and landfills the remaining

54.0 percent.
The U.S. Supreme Courts decision in United Haulers
Association v. Oneida-Herkimer Solid Waste Management
Authority declares that local governments are permitted to
engage in flow control to government-owned disposal facilities
in specific circumstances.
2012
The U.S. EPA reports that Americans generate 4.38 pounds of
municipal solid waste per person and recycle or compost 34.5
percent of it. They incinerated about 12 percent and sent the rest
to landfills.
2013
Whittier, Calif.s Puente Hills Landfill closes, making Apex
Regional Landfill in Apex, NV, the largest landfill.
Physical properties of waste

USA
BANGALORE
Paper - 27%
Paper 12%
Food waste 14.6%
Organic waste 60%
Yard trimmings 13.5%
Dust 5%
Page | 29
Plastics 12.8%
Plastics 14%
Metals 9.1%
Metal 1%
Rubber, Leather and Textiles 9%
Rubber 1%
Wood 6%
Cardboard 1%
Glass 4.5%
Glass 4%
Others 3.3%
Others 1%
Chemical Properties of waste
A Timeline of Trash
Date
Location
Notes
6,500 BC
North
America
Archeological studies shows a clan of Native Americans in what

is now Colorado produced an average of 5.3 pounds of waste a
day.
500 BC
Athens
First municipal dump in western world organized. Regulations
Page | 30

A Timeline of Trash
Date
Location
Greece
Notes
required waste to be dumped at least a mile from the city
limits.
New Testament Jerusalem

of Bible
Palestine
The Valley of Gehenna also called Sheoal in the New

Testament of the Bible "Though I descent into Sheol, thou art
there." Sheoal was apparently a dump outside of the city of
that periodically burned. It became synonymous with "hell."
1388
England
English Parliament bars waste dispersal in public waterways

and ditches.
1400
Paris France
Garbage piles so high outside of Paris gates that it interferes

with city defense.
1690
Philadelphia
Rittenhouse Mill, Philadelphia makes paper from recycled

fibers (waste paper and rags).
1842
England
A report links disease to filthy environmental conditions - "age

of sanitation" begins.
1874
A new technology called "the Destructor" provided the first

Nottingham systematic incineration of refuse in Nottingham, England. Until
England
this time, much of the burning was accidental, a result
of methane production.
1885
Governor's
Island NY
1889
Washington Washington DC reported that we were running out of

DC
appropriate places for refuse (sound familiar?).
1896
United
States
Waste reduction plants arrive in US. (for compressing organic

wastes). Later closed because of noxious emissions.
1898
New York
NY has first rubbish sorting plant for recycling (are we

reinventing the wheel?).
The first garbage incinerator was built in USA (on Governor's

Island in NY)
Turn of Century
By the turn of the century the garbage problem was seen as

one of the greatest problems for local authorities.
1900
"Piggeries" were developed to eat fresh or cooked garbage (In

the mid-50's an outbreak of vesicluar exenthama resulted in
the destruction of 1,000s of pigs that had eaten raw garbage.
Law passed requiring that garbage had to be cooked before it
could be fed to swine).
1911
New York
City
NYC citizens were producing 4.6 pounds of refuse a day

(remember the Native Americans from 6500 BC mentioned
above?).
1914
United
States
there were about 300 incinerators in the US for burning trash.

Landfills were becoming a popular way of reclaiming swamp
land while getting rid of trash.
1920's
1954
Olympia
Olympia Washington pays for return of aluminum cans.
Washington
1965
United
States
Page | 31
The first federal solid waste management laws were enacted.

A Timeline of Trash
Date
Location
1968
Notes
By 1968 companies began buy back recycling of containers.
1970
United
States
The first Earth Day was celebrated, the Environmental

Protection Agency EPA created and the Resource Recovery Act
enacted.
1976
United
States
In 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) was

created emphasizing recycling and HW management. This was
the result of two major events: the oil embargo and the
discovery (or recognition) of Love Canal.
1979
United
States
The EPA issued criteria prohibiting open dumping.
Today
The list goes on and on.
Hospet-Chitradurga, Hospet-Ballari, Hassan-BC Road, Shivamogga-Mangaluru, Ankola-Hubbali,

Hubbali-Hospet, Vijayapura-Kalaburagi-Humnabad, Nelamangala-Tumakuru, Chitradurga-Haveri
and Bengaluru-Dindigul (Tamil Nadu).
Page | 32

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EVOLUTION OF SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT TECHNIQUES IN USA