When was recycling first introduced

The ragman, Strasser says. The ragman went from house to house to buy old cloth for an international trade in rags to make into paper. Railroads largely put an end to the door-to-door rag collecting. When garbage pickup started in the late 19th century, many cities separated reusable trash from garbage designated for a landfill.

Just like today, workers sorted via conveyor belts as early as The cities sold the reusable trash to industries. And many individuals saved their organics to feed to animals. By then, not much was being recycled apart from metal at scrapyards.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought many things into sharp focus for Public Works Directors, and other leaders who work to keep our cities clean and functional. As the few remaining recycling centers slowly start to open, residents heave a sigh of relief. But will it last? The recycling industry has been in crisis for some time. Our hope is that you not only use this article as a historical resource, but that you build upon its ideas to help reshape the future of the recycling industry.

Here is the mind-boggling history of city recycling, and where it could go in an ever-changing future. When did recycling start? The earliest account is in BC, when the first municipal dump program was formed in the Western World. Trash had to be disposed of at least a mile from the city. The evolution of recycling dates back to , when patriots pulled down a statue of King George III, melted it down and used it to create 42, bullets during The American War of Independence.

Paper was also recycled as a vital commodity, due to lack of raw materials. A real moment in the history of recycling came in , when aluminum can recycling factories opened in Chicago, Illinois — the first of their kind in America. Due to large-scale material shortages the government created a Waste Reclamation Service. The Great Depression was an infamous time of shortages, so residents were encouraged to recycle or reuse everything from scrap metal, to cloth, paper, sacks and more.

Like in WW1, recycling became critical to the war effort during WW2. Materials were commonly recycled, reused and rationed — everything from rubber, to nylon and scrap.

Who invented recycling? Paper recycling plants First patent for a recycling process Title page of the first book printed on recycled paper. Credit : Daderot First steps in selective recycling Wartime recycling Plastic-eating bacteria Plastic waste is one of the main environmental problems. Source : Phere Both discoveries open the door to having a method to treat and dispose of plastic waste in the near future. Miguel Barral migbarral. Do you want to stay up to date with our new publications?

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Your comment will be published after validation. Please, try again later. Next article. However, consumers and manufacturers had been paying attention to the implications of single-use products and the lack of infrastructure for dealing with waste for years. C onsumers who had been adapted to the use-it-and-throw-it-away model of consumption became more concerned about where their waste was going. Whereas previous recycling efforts had centered around getting useful life out of products, writes Olivia B.