Throughout most of history, the amount of waste generated by humans was insignificant. This was due to low population density and low societal levels of exploitation of natural resources. The common waste produced during premodern times mainly consisted of ashes and human biodegradable waste. These were released back into the ground locally with minimum environmental impact. Tools made out of wood or metal were generally reused or passed down through generations.
However, some civilizations seem to have been more profligate in their waste output than others. One such example is the Maya civilization of Central America who had a fixed monthly ritual. During this ritual, the people of the village would gather together and burn their rubbish in large dumps.[1]
Sir Edwin Chadwick was an English social reformer who played a significant role in the development of public health and sanitation policies in the 19th century.
With the onset of industrialisation and sustained urban growth in England, waste buildup in cities caused rapid deterioration in sanitation levels and general quality of urban life. The streets were choked with filth due to lack of waste clearance regulations. As early as 1751, Corbyn Morris proposed the establishment of a municipal authority with waste removal powers in London, stating that the preservation of people’s health is of great importance” and suggesting that “cleaning the city should be put under one uniform public management, and all filth should be conveyed by the Thames to a proper distance in the country”.
However, legislation on public health did not emerge until the mid-19th century. This was spurred by increasingly devastating cholera outbreaks and a growing public health debate. One influential report was The Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population in 1842[4] by social reformer Edwin Chadwick. In this report, he argued for the importance of adequate waste removal and management facilities to improve the health and wellbeing of city populations.
The Nuisance Removal and Disease Prevention Act of 1846 marked the start of a gradually improving process for regulated waste management in London. The Metropolitan Board of Works was the first city-wide authority to centralize sanitation regulation for the rapidly expanding city. The Public Health Act 1875 made it mandatory for every household to dispose of their weekly waste in moveable receptacles” – the first concept for a dust-bin.[5] In 1894, Manlove, Alliott & Co. Ltd. introduced the destructor furnace.
The dramatic increase in waste disposal led to the creation of the first incineration plants, also known as ‘destructors’. In 1874, Manlove, Alliott & Co. Ltd. built the first incinerator in Nottingham based on Albert Fryer’s design.[6] However, these were met with opposition due to the large amounts of ash they produced that wafted over neighboring areas.[7]
Similar municipal waste disposal systems emerged in other major cities of Europe and North America at the turn of the 20th century. In 1895, New York City became the first city in the United States to have a public-sector garbage management system.
Early garbage removal trucks were simply open-bodied dump trucks pulled by a team of horses. In the early part of the 20th century, they became motorized. The first close-body trucks to eliminate odors with a dumping lever mechanism were introduced in Britain in the 1920s. These trucks were soon equipped with hopper mechanisms,” where the scooper was loaded at floor level and then hoisted mechanically to deposit waste into the truck.
The Garwood Load Packer was introduced in 1938 and was the first truck to incorporate a hydraulic compactor. As for methods of disposal,
Landfill
Main article: Landfill
Here is an image of a landfill operation in Hawaii and a compaction vehicle in action.
![Landfill operation in Hawaii](landfill.jpg")
The Spittelau incineration plant located in Vienna is also an alternative to landfills.
Disposing of waste in a landfill involves burying it, and this practice remains common in most countries. Landfills are often established in abandoned or unused quarries, mining voids, or borrow pits. A well-designed and well-managed landfill can be a hygienic and relatively inexpensive method of disposing of waste materials. However, older, poorly designed or poorly managed landfills can create adverse environmental impacts such as wind-blown litter, attraction of vermin, and generation of liquid leachate. Landfills also produce gas (mostly composed of methane and carbon dioxide) as organic waste breaks down anaerobically. This gas can cause odor problems, kill surface vegetation, and is a greenhouse gas.
Modern landfills are designed with specific characteristics to ensure efficient waste management. One of these characteristics is the use of clay or plastic lining material to contain leachate. Additionally, deposited waste is compacted to increase its density and stability, and covered to prevent attracting vermin such as mice or rats.
Moreover, many landfills have landfill gas extraction systems installed to extract the landfill gas. This gas is pumped out of the landfill using perforated pipes and either flared off or burnt in a gas engine to generate electricity.
