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Waste
is a fact of life. All living creatures produce
it in some shape or form. How much we create and
what we do with our waste has changed over time
and will change in the future as we face new economic,
environmental and technical challenges.
Our time line shows how attitude
and actions towards waste have changed since time
began.
Prehistoric
3000
- 500 BC
1200's
- Pre 1800's
Circa
1840's - Late 1860's
1871
- Early 1900's
1914
- 1945
1950's
- 1970's
1992
- Present Day
Prehistoric
When man was a hunter-gatherer,
the amount of waste he produced was minimal.
Most of it, such as ash from fires, bones
and animal waste was left on the ground to
enrich the soil. Most of the tools that early
man used were made from natural materials
and did not pose a threat to the environment
when discarded.
When man developed from
hunter-gatherer to farmer, population was
small and waste was easily dealt with. Not
much waste was produced and everything that
could be reused or recycled was.
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3000 - 500 BC
3000
BC |
Evidence
of the first landfill sites has been found
in Knossos, the capital of Crete. |
2000
BC |
Bronze
was recovered from waste in Europe, and reused.
Composting was practised in China. |
500
BC |
The
government in Athens opened the first municipal
landfill site one mile outside the city. Reuse
and recycling was a regular practice across
the world, as people fed vegetable waste to
animals and used manure and green waste as
fertiliser.
Populations were increasing
and people were living closer together in
towns and cities. People produced and consumed
more. Reuse and recycling was still carried
out as an economic measure but what to do
with rubbish left over was still becoming
more of a problem. |
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1200's
- Pre 1800's
1200's |
Households
burnt their waste on open fires, or
threw it out into the streets. Pigsties
were built outside people's doors and
rotting food blocked the gutters. Traders
also grouped together in towns, which
meant that their waste added to the
problem. |
1297 |
Laws
were passed to make people stop leaving
rubbish outside their houses but they
weren't very effective. People still
threw rubbish out on to the street this
meant that disease and vermin were very
common. These conditions were some of
the factors that led to the worst outbreak
of the plague in 1348/9, which killed
two thirds of the inhabitants of London.
|
Mid
1300's |
Men
were employed as rakers, to cart the
filth away to pits outside city gates
or to rivers to be taken away by boats.
In 1408 Henry IV ruled that household
rubbish should be kept inside until
the rakers took it, and that forfeits
should be paid if it were not removed.
|
Pre
1800's |
The
population of Sheffield was below 45,000
and there were no organised collections
of waste. Waste was dumped randomly
or burnt by individual households. Businesses
often flushed their waste onto the streets.
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Circa 1840's - Late
1860's
Circa
1840's |
The
industrial revolution had truly hit Sheffield
and the population of the city had increased
to 110,891 people. This concentration of people
brought with it higher concentrations of waste
and often poor sanitation and living conditions.
The Public Health Authority
initiated the waste management concept when
the link between disease and accumulation
of rubbish was discovered. According to the
'Institute of Wastes Management', the authorities
started a campaign to encourage people to
separate their waste and to dispose of wastes
in different ways to minimise risk to health
and improve living conditions.
Mainly, collection of
waste was carried out by small scale private
contractors who made money by recovering materials
to re-use and sell rather than charging authorities
for the service.
Waste collected was taken
to dust-yards and people employed as sorters,
usually women, removed items of value by hand.
This was a very dirty and dangerous job that
caused many health problems to the sorters.
Victorian
Waste Facilities
- Ashpits
- Holes for ash and cinders
that had to be emptied by shovelling,
one for each property or communal.
- Middens
- communal waste heaps where
wet nightsoil as well as dry
waste could be indiscriminately
tipped - a major public health
problem.
- Privvies
or Privy Middens - took all
kinds of liquid filth as well
as ashes if households had no
ash pits. They had to be emptied
by pail. Some were brick lined
but many leaked badly.
Source: The
history of Institutes of Wastes
Management 1898-1998 Chapter 1
Page 12 |
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Late
1860's |
By
this time the public sector had begun to take
on the responsibility of waste management
and cleansing. |
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1871
- Early 1900's
1871 |
1871
Local Government Act established Local
Government Board to carry out public
health engineering works. |
1875 |
1875
The Public Health Act was landmark legislation
making local authorities responsible
for regular removal and disposal of
refuse. The authorities were subject
to penalties if they failed in these
responsibilities.
Horse and carts
were used to collect waste. This was
known as scavenging and operated during
the night. |
1898 |
A
refuse destructor plant was built in
Sheffield on Lumley Street (now Bernard
Street). A six cell destructor was built
initially, but it was decided to extend
it to 16 cells as soon as it was built.
An additional 10 cells were operational
in 1901. The total cost of building
Lumley St destructor as of 1901 was
£33,989. |
Late
1800's / Early 1900's |
The
destructor is in use to burn waste (capable
of burning10 tons in each cell per day
of 24 hours i.e. 160 tons). Riddled
ashes were taken directly to the public
baths and were re burnt to heat the
water. Later, electricity was generated
at the destructor and used to charge
the battery cells which powered the
vehicles, and to provide electric lighting
in the yard and adjoining streets.
Clinker from the
destructor was used to make mortar,
and a plant was erected which make flags
out of ground cinder.
Tins, glass and
paper were recovered from a picking
belt by hand before they went into the
destructor plant. These items were then
recycled. Today, an electro-magnetic
separator recovers metals.
Many Cleansing Superintendents
were appointed across the country to
assist local authorities to meet their
responsibilities and to develop waste
management services. |
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1914 - 1945
1914/15 |
During
the First World War there was a shortage of
manpower as many of the workforce joined the
forces. Therefore the service in Sheffield
began to be mechanised.
Metal recovered from the
picking belt at the destructor plant was used
to make ammunition and sent to the battlefields
of the First World War. |
1920's |
Bins
were issued to some households and vehicles
bought which had an enclosed system for transferring
rubbish from the bin to the vehicle to provide
a dust less operation to protect refuse collectors. |
1930's |
Bins
and their contents were heavy (content mainly
ash and cinder) and this was causing a threat
to the health and safety of the collection
staff. Lifts were fitted on the back of vehicles
to minimise lifting and to prevent back injuries. |
1939-1945 |
The
emphasis on salvage was stepped up as raw
materials and other resources were hard to
come by because of the Second World War.
Local Authorities were
encouraged to recycle and league tables were
published showing who recycled the most and
who raised the most income from recycling.
Salvage bins were installed in the city to
collect materials that were of value for the
war effort. It was a fineable offence to steal
from them. Inspectors, (for the first time
some of them were women) were also employed
to check dustbins to ensure that nothing was
thrown away that could be recycled. Fines
could be imposed if reusable items were found. |
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1950's
- 1970's
1950's |
A
facility was built at Penistone Road
which was billed as the "Ultimate
Recycling Plant" (officially opened
in 1953). It was built to capitalise
on the emphasis that had been placed
on recycling during the war years and
the fact that legislation had helped
to make recycling profitable i.e. scrap
merchants had to pay a set amount per
tonne of material. However, soon after
it was commissioned economic difficulties
after the war meant that this legislation
was scrapped and the plant never fulfilled
its potential. |
1970's |
The
composition of waste has been gradually
changing. Plastics and packaging appeared
more and more in bins as it was more
widely used. Less ash and dust was found
in bins but this was replaced by other
items such as food, paper and glass,
quantities of which had increased steadily
since the war.
Waste was light
but bulky, therefore bin lifts were
no longer needed. The design of vehicles
was changed to reflect this with an
open back style and improved to allow
them to fit more waste into the vehicle. |
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1992
- Present Day
1992/3 |
People
were generating more and more waste, metal
bins were no longer big enough to cope with
the waste and therefore Wheeled bins were
introduced in Sheffield. This change provided
a more efficient service, improved conditions
for refuse collection workers and provided
a better means of storing waste for the householder
reducing the impact of waste on the street
environment. |
2001 |
August
- we were awarded a 30 year waste management
contract by Sheffield City Council. |
2003
|
April
- The recycling rate in the city has increased
from 5% to 10% due to a range of initiatives
put in place by us. The first citywide recycling
collection service commences collecting paper
and card from blue bins. |
|
July
- The city's Household Waste Recycling Sites
are all open following refurbishment to increase
recycling and improve traffic flow around
the sites.
September - A Materials
Recovery Facility is operating to sort paper
and card collected through the blue bin service.
Work commences to construct a new Energy Recovery
Facility on Bernard Road |
2004 |
April
- Sheffield now recycles 12% of its waste |
|
September
- A trial green waste collection service is
introduced to 45,000 properties. |
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October
- Contract extended for a further 5 years |
2005 |
April
- Sheffield now recycles 17% of its waste |
|
February
- The turbine is installed at the new Energy
Recovery Facility.
June - A trial kerbside
collection of cans and textiles is now available
to 12,000 properties.
November - New energy
recovery facility receives first batch of
waste |
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Veolia
Environmental Services Plc, Lumley St. Service
Centre, Lumley St., Sheffield S4 7ZJ |
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Tel: 0114 228
3660 |
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Eco-Star |
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Did you know |
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In 1898
a refuse destructor plant was built in Sheffield
on Lumley Street (now Bernard Street).
A six cell destructor
was built initially, but
it was decided to
extend it to 16 cells as soon as it was built.
An additional 10 cells were operational
in 1901.
The total cost of
building Lumley St destructor as of 1901 was £33,989. |
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