THE FUTURE OF THE WASTE PROBLEM: POSSIBILITIES FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
What is to be the future of the Waste Problem? This is the question
agitating all circles to-day. The observance and practice of economic
methods are being forced upon us owing to the high prices which are
obtaining for every description of raw material, whether intended for
the table or the factory.
To a certain degree the action is automatic, from the simple
circumstance that supplies are strictly limited. Money does not
constitute such a determining factor to-day as was the case five years
ago, although of course it still exercises a far-reaching influence.
But the mere fact that an adequacy of raw materials cannot be procured
merely because one may be disposed to pay fictitious prices, is
stimulating interest in the waste issue to a degree which, under
conventional conditions, would never have obtained. In times of plenty
one does not pause to consider for a moment as to whether it is worth
while to devote any time and energy to the exploitation of a certain
refuse.
But the great question is one not so much concerning what we can derive
from wastes, but whether we have really digested the lessons which
the enemy has taught us. On every side we see startling evidences of
what he was able to do by scientifically turning over and using the
rubbish-heap, and the great wealth he was able to acquire by following
such practices. We found ourselves hit at every turn and, in the hope
of solving the critical situations which arose, were forced to follow
the enemy’s example and become a nation of _chiffonniers_. We have
acquired wealth in the process, have discovered the value of the mine
which the junk pile represents, and realize that more wealth still
remains to be extracted from such untapped resources.
We have also become intimately conversant with what may be described as
the most perplexing phases of the problem, the greatest of which is the
segregation and collection of the residues. It is upon this rock that
all future effort regarding the scientific exploitation of waste, in
these islands at all events, is in danger of being wrecked.
The mere description of what we ourselves cannot use in the course
of our operations, as waste, or rubbish, invests the project with a
dangerously false atmosphere. Being regarded as worthless there is a
tendency towards the opinion that its collection and segregation should
be conducted along honorary lines. This is a precarious policy, because
it repudiates the fundamental law of the labourer being worthy of his
hire, whether it be in ploughing, the smelting of steel, shipbuilding,
or the collection of waste.
Simultaneously another immutable law is being flouted. All matter,
irrespective of its character, which is capable of being considered as
a raw material, must command a market value. It may be high, or it may
be low, but the fact remains unchallenged that it possesses a certain
intrinsic worth. Refuse, which can be worked into something useful,
is just as much raw material as a shipload of ore, or a consignment
of gold. It is its mere classification as waste which imperils its
commercial significance. This is demonstrated by the sudden importance
and value it instantly commands when it becomes labelled, not “waste,”
but a by-product.
In these circumstances, therefore, it would represent a decided
progressive step if a recognized market could be established in waste
products. By so doing all residues could be given accepted commercial
values with which one and all might become acquainted by perusing
quotations, in precisely the same way as the movement in the prices
of raw materials may be followed by reference to the daily or weekly
market lists. Until such time as wastes become so recognized the
uncertainty of supply must obtain, because it is the very ignorance
of the subject which contributes to the loss of such material through
fire and other equally destructive measures with its appalling loss of
wealth.
The establishment of a market price for all and every description
of waste would act as the direct incentive to preserve anything and
everything for further possible use. This was proved very conclusively
during the war, when bones and paper were in such urgent request, the
one for the reclamation of the fat, and the other for re-pulping. Under
normal conditions both wastes had received indifferent consideration,
and immense quantities of the two materials suffered complete useless
destruction by fire. The premium placed upon the price of bones was
only ½d., or 1 cent, a pound, the butcher being regarded as the
collecting medium. That is to say the bones would be paid for at the
above rate upon surrender to the butcher. The reward was not high, but
it proved to be sufficient to induce people to husband their bones
and to dispose of them in the recognized market. It was the same
with paper. The average housewife devoted but little attention to
the harvesting of this waste until she learned that the authorities
were ready to pay 1d.--2 cents--at least per pound therefor through
its accredited agents. Instantly she commenced to display thrift, and
was somewhat surprised by the money which could be picked up in this
manner. Yet it is safe to assert that had no financial value been
placed upon these wastes barely 50 per cent. of what was actually
secured would have been forthcoming.
Unfortunately there is a large class of waste exploiters which is
disposed to trade upon the ignorance or indifference of the community.
In the knowledge that the average house, office and factory has no
conception of the value of its refuse, or is ready to part with it
for nothing because it is regarded as a nuisance, the waste merchant
is disposed to become discriminatory and autocratic. He is perfectly
ready to acquire what he knows full well possesses a distinct value so
long as he can get it for nothing. The moment the owner sets a value
upon the flotsam and jetsam the waste merchant will have nothing to do
with it. He assumes an indifferent if not a dictatorial and impossible
attitude to which the second party to the projected bargain takes
immediate exception. The upshot is that sooner than part with the
material for nothing, and in the knowledge that the acquirer is certain
to sell out in turn at a profit, the material is withdrawn completely
from possible circulation, and so suffers irretrievable loss. To
barter is human, and this applies as forcibly to waste as to houses,
commodities and produce in general.
The waste market must be set upon a firm and solid basis. Those who
have specialized in this field of trading during the past few years,
and, as a result, have become acquainted with its possibilities, and
the true value of such material as is to be obtained through the
devious channels, are in the position to effect such a reform. The
price of waste is naturally subsidiary to the fluctuations in the
market quotations of the materials whence it is drawn, as well as
of those normally employed in the industries to which waste may be
applied. The general conditions are decidedly more complex than those
prevailing in the handling of straight materials, for the simple reason
that then only the one market needs to be watched.
Factors of cost also require to be closely followed. In the true
economic and scientific exploitation of all waste products the question
of cost is vital. It may easily jeopardize such utilization. Naturally
a margin of profit must be available from the working-up of the
material, not only to ensure its use, but also to safeguard the sources
of supply. This margin must be determined, not on the top of the market
as is the case at the present moment when conditions are abnormal,
but when prices for raw materials are at their minimum. If, then, the
exploitation of waste can be conducted in such a way as to compete
successfully with ostensible raw materials, recovery must hold its own
to become more and more profitable as the market rises. By-products can
be exploited only so long as the cost of preparing them for commerce
proves profitable. If it should become cheaper to treat raw materials
for a similar article then waste reclamation must suffer abandonment,
except in those rare instances where every contributory source of
supply must be pressed into service. Such conditions rarely obtain
on a low market, because the latter is directly attributable to the
circumstance that supply is in advance of demand. It is the inversion
of this law which forces high prices.
Efforts have been made to stimulate the preservation and surrender
of waste along voluntary lines. But such measures cannot hope to be
commercially successful, except under peculiar circumstances, as for
instance when patriotism may act as the incentive. The voluntary
handling of waste must of necessity prove wanting because it is
deficient in discipline, method, and organization such as science
demands to fulfil the conquests she indicates. Compulsory measures
are absolutely imperative, otherwise all the mickle which makes the
muckle must slip through the meshes of the net, no matter how well it
may be cast. The Germans were enabled to bid defiance to the world,
notwithstanding the stringency of the blockade, by the elaboration of
rigid laws ensuring the collection of all waste. Such measures were in
force more or less during the halcyon pre-war days, but were severely
tightened up when national existence was seriously threatened. Similar
compulsory methods will need to be introduced into this country to
ensure the full recovery of valuable materials for industry, that is
if we are to reduce our purchases from abroad. The desired end can
be achieved indirectly by prohibiting the acquisition of the obvious
raw materials from foreign sources, because instantly the refuse and
residues capable of taking the place of the raw materials will commence
to appreciate in value and accordingly will be preserved and utilized.
But the citizens of Britain are opposed to compulsion in any and every
form. To impose such conditions is to interfere with the liberty of the
subject, although absolute and unfettered freedom, as experience has
adequately testified, reacts against the welfare of the individual and
the community in general. Failing uncompromising compulsory measures
is it possible to achieve comparative success by spontaneous private
enterprise?
To obtain an indication of what can be achieved in this direction it
is necessary to go to the French capital. There an enterprising and
energetic Frenchman, Monsieur Verdier-Dufour, undoubtedly built up one
of the largest businesses in the world--founded upon dust-bin waste.
The organization was somewhat intricate and full of inner workings
although highly effective in the production of results, because the
guiding spirit knew that everything has its specific use.
The operation commences in the gutter at the bin in which the
householder has dumped his refuse and which he has moved to the
kerbstone for collection. Now the Frenchman is a cute bargainer, as
the whole world knows, and the concierge, after the passing of the
ordinance compelling the householder to bin his refuse, promptly saw
a means to improve his pocket. The bin was a lucky dip and accordingly
was well worth exploiting as a concession. He promptly drove a bargain
with one class of the vast army of Paris waste-gatherers which entitled
the individual to rummage the bin before the collector came along, the
only requirement being that the “miner” should be up early and on the
spot before the refuse carts commenced operations. The _placier_, as
this individual is called, did his work well--the bin contained little
of material value after he had sorted its contents. But other less
luckless members of the garbage-rummaging fraternity did not spurn to
submit the tailings from the first process to another treatment and
reap a harvest in the process.
The odds and ends gathered in this manner, and which were of a most
diversified nature, for the most part found their way to Monsieur
Verdier-Dufour’s establishment, where the precise value of each
article, and the grade of each range of substances, became known to
the uttermost centime. Nothing was too small to be examined and each
article had its individual bin. The man at the helm knew the exact
application for each article, while he was a master-mind in following
the markets. When quotations were abnormally low he could hold on for
the return of better times. His waste commanded the admiration of the
firms with which he dealt because he maintained the standard of his
products which were exactly as described. Manufacturers merely had to
dump the waste into their machines, thus treating it as if it were
raw material. There was no interference with the rigid routine of
their business, nor were they called upon to expend a further penny in
rendering the waste suitable for their intentions. So the master-mind
built up a large and highly lucrative business and thus there was very
little household waste which escaped reclamation.
Co-operative societies among the rag-pickers supplemented individual
effort in this field. In this instance the process is simpler because
it is conducted along broader lines. Sorting is not conducted to
such a fine degree as under the individual system above described.
Consequently it suffers because lower prices are paid. Waste commands a
price according to the time and labour which will have to be expended
by the purchaser before such material can be safely turned into the
precise channels of the huge manufacturing machine for which it has
been acquired.
The objection to both co-operative and individual methods, such as I
have described, is that they can only be conducted upon the requisite
scale in the very largest cities where the volume of material to
be handled is relatively heavy. Waste must be forthcoming in a
steady stream of uniform volume to justify its exploitation, and the
fashioning and maintenance of these streams is the supreme difficulty.
Ostensibly, in this country we have the very finest machinery in
existence for the reclamation of waste of every description--the
municipal and civic authorities. But, as results have conclusively
demonstrated, they are the least efficient institutions in this
respect. The few cities which are able to point to great achievements
in this field are the very exceptions which serve to prove the rule.
They do so in the most convincing manner, and incidentally bring home
to us very vividly the enormous wealth which we are deliberately
throwing away through lack of enterprise and adequate organization.
The system is responsible for this deplorable state of affairs. The
average municipal engineer, even if anxious to excel in this province,
finds himself hampered at every turn. He is not vested with sufficient
authority or freedom to carry any carefully prepared scheme into
operation without the sanction of this, or that, Committee which,
as a rule, is notorious for its lack of practical knowledge, more
particularly in all matters pertaining to the value of waste. Then
the multiplicity of officials and their salaries reacts against every
possibility of a scheme being turned into a financial success.
It is a matter for serious discussion as to whether our whole system
of waste recovery, in so far as it affects municipalities, should
not be overhauled from top to bottom--even superseded. It should be
entrusted to private enterprise acting under licence. Were such a force
encouraged we might safely anticipate the provision of well-equipped
comprehensive plants, similar to those which I have described, for the
treatment of waste of every description incurred within the district
in which it operates. To this centre should be borne refuse of every
description for segregation and preparation for the mills of industry.
Private enterprise, from its close contact with the markets, would be
able to set prices at which it would be prepared to purchase waste of
every description from a dog-mauled bone to a worn-out scrubbing-brush;
a discarded daily paper to an abandoned straw hat or pair of tattered
boots.
By fixing prices for all and every description of residue preservation
and segregation at the source would be encouraged. The housewife,
caretaker of the office, and manager of the factory would see that
all waste was carefully husbanded, and that nothing possessing the
slightest value would be thrown away. The dust-collectors could be
encouraged to participate in the general round-up of waste by being
given a commission upon all useful material brought in. It might be
an over-riding commission to ensure complete and frequent collection.
It is only necessary to apply sufficient stimulus in the form of hard
cash to ensure that nothing is wasted. Private enterprise could carry
out such a scheme whereas municipal authorities are precluded from
following such a course.
Under private auspices it would also become possible to exploit the
waste accruing in our rural districts. Residences by the wayside,
hamlets and country homes from their isolation have escaped the
tentacles of previous recovery systems. No recognized specialist in
residues, with the exception perhaps of the wardrobe dealer, ever
passes their way to pay a call. But, with modern motor transport
facilities it would be possible to call at these possible scattered
sources of supply for anything and everything, and at regular
intervals, so that the owners might be induced to preserve their useful
materials. It is maintained that such collection would never prove
profitable. Possibly not when considered upon its own footing, but when
contemplated in a general scheme it would not only be lucrative, but
contribute to the higher efficiency of the plant employed from being
able to raise the working output to one more closely approaching the
maximum capacity.
Such a method of recovering the waste would stimulate competition
which, in turn, would tend to the hardening of prices to the advantage
of those who have waste for disposal. The plant would only need to
study local conditions in so far as the disposal of readily decomposing
refuse was concerned, such as that from householders, fish, meat and
other organic matter. The municipal authorities, by virtue of their
powers, would be able to ensure that this class of refuse was collected
and treated promptly in the interests of the health of the community.
Such waste as is not susceptible to deterioration could be sent or
drawn from distant points, according to the advantage of price offered,
as is actually the case to-day in regard to certain materials.
Private enterprise would also exercise another far-reaching beneficial
influence. It would not lag behind the clock of progress. Science
is ever advancing and the exploitation of waste lies in its true
scientific utilization. Under the present conditions inventive effort
in this province is not able to exercise the influence or reap the
benefits which it really deserves. The tendency to be satisfied with
what is already installed, no matter how inefficient it may be, is too
deeply implanted. On the other hand, competition is the lever which
impels private enterprise. To turn a blind eye to invention is to court
disaster.
Although we have made vast strides during the past few years in the
processes of reclamation and utilization of waste we are still far from
having penetrated the threshold of the new world of industry, science,
and invention which it embraces. The unknown lies before us. For
aught contemporary knowledge can say, other triumphs and vast fields
of conquest, comparable with those associated with the gas and oil
industries, are waiting to be discovered, and this fact is adequate to
foster experiment, research, and investigation.
We talk glibly of exploiting waste, but how many products entering
intimately into our everyday life are being passed through the mill of
reclamation? A little reflection will speedily exhaust the list. If we
look around we can satisfy ourselves how much and what a variety of
substances are still being permitted to run to utter loss. We have not
yet found a use for spent matches, or a means of retipping those which
have been scarcely lighted, despite the fact that this indispensable
attribute to modern civilization has increased from 300 to 800 per
cent. in price. How many typewriter ribbons are used by the tens of
thousands of offices in the country during the year, and what is done
with them when withdrawn from the machines as being unfit for further
service? What is done with the stones and kernels from the millions
of pounds of stone-fruits consumed during the year? The inventor is
still confronted with the prize which will result from the discovery
of an economic use for the 370,000,000 lb. of spent tea-leaves and
100,000,000 lb. of coffee-grounds left in our pots, cups, and urns
during the twelve months.
The lists of wastes awaiting profitable disposal are extremely
lengthy. Some appear to be as impossible of successful solution as the
discovery of the non-refillable bottle. But effort is not confined to
the perfection of processes for the treatment of untouched wastes,
because the real solution of this problem lies in the full scientific
utilization of the product reclaimed. The fact that a waste is being
exploited does not imply that such utilization is the most profitable.
Investigation may indicate another and totally different, as well as
more lucrative application for a certain material. So the inventor is
not confined to a narrow field; his opportunities are illimitable.
There is one outstanding factor governing waste reclamation which often
escapes observation. It is the only means whereby the cost of living
may be reduced. Obviously, if a specific substance, whether it be a
foodstuff or raw material for manufacture, be applied exclusively to
one individual purpose, and without the residues resulting from its
preparation, a certain quantity of which must necessarily be incurred,
being turned to any economic account, the one application must bear
the whole of the cost involved. It is by turning the residues to some
profitable account that the cost of the primary product can be reduced
to an attractive level, and the wider the margin of profit on the
by-products and the more numerous the latter, the greater the reduction
possible upon the quotation for the staple.
For instance, were coal still to be distilled exclusively for its gas,
the price of the latter to-day would be so high as to be prohibitive
to all but the wealthy. It is the ability to exploit from two to three
hundred, or more, by-products arising in the distillation process,
which enables the gas itself to be sold at a figure bringing it within
the reach of all. What would be the cost of our clothes were it not
possible for the mills to take the discarded woollen garments, shred
them, combine the reconstructed fleece with new wool, and thus produce
a new cloth? It is shoddy, or mungo, which has solved the problem of
good clothing at a relatively low price for all, because, to-day, there
are very few of us who could afford to buy suits made of 100 per cent.
new wool.
There are few spheres of activity offering such attractions, or holding
out such tremendous prizes to the persevering and brilliant of thought
as that identified with the exploitation of wastes. The field is so
vast as to be open to the endeavours of the layman as much as to the
master of knowledge. While many of the questions to be answered are of
severe technical significance, there are many which are equally capable
of solution by the man, or woman, who has had no technical training.
There are many “crown cork” problems awaiting solution, while there
is equal scope and opportunity for those possessed of the powers of
organization.
The opinion prevails in certain quarters that the present wave of
interest in the scientific reclamation of waste is merely ephemeral.
Doubtless this feeling prevails because of the extreme length to which
the fetish of cheapness and extravagance had carried us and which
shortcomings appeared to be so firmly ingrained as to form part of
the British character. To a certain degree prevailing high prices
are certain to persuade us to pay closer regard to this issue than
has heretofore been the case. Nevertheless, the longer such abnormal
conditions obtain the more impressed shall we become of the wealth
to be won from waste. They will compel us to strive to extract the
utmost from the raw material placed in our hands. They will induce us
to become more and more reluctant to discard a material after we have
secured all apparent worth which it appears to be capable of yielding,
from the fear that the ultimate residue may still contain something of
potential value which we have not succeeded in discovering.
While, doubtless, the gradual relapse of conditions to the normal
will exercise the effect of causing us to pay decreasing regard to
the value of the wastes, it is to be hoped that, by the time such a
stage has been reached, we shall have become so powerfully impressed
with the potentialities of residues as to continue to exploit them
instinctively. If such be the case we shall find ourselves in the
position of being better armed for the coming commercial struggle
with Germany, to whom waste has brought extraordinary wealth in the
past. Thus equipped we should be able to meet a remorseless and clever
commercial antagonist on more than level terms.
Of one thing we may rest assured. Germany, past-master in the art
of exploiting wastes, will exert herself far more strenuously in
this field in the future than she has ever done before. Economic
considerations will compel her to keep her foreign purchases of raw
materials down to the irreducible minimum and to force her sales abroad
to the absolute maximum in order to secure the rehabilitation of her
trade balance. To consummate this end she will leave no stone unturned
to exploit her refuse of every description to the full. No one knows
more than Germany what can be done with the so-called rubbish-heap,
and no other country is more cognizant of the fact that the industrial
exploitation of waste creates wealth. So it behoves us to keep a tight
hand upon our residues from household, office, and factory, and to
exploit them ourselves to our own financial and economic advantage.
THE END
_Printed in Great Britain by_
UNWIN BROTHERS, LIMITED, THE GRESHAM PRESS, WOKING AND LONDON
Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious errors in punctuation have been fixed.
Page 12: “preparation of magarine” changed to “preparation of margarine”
Page 38: “aggreeable surprise” changed to “agreeable surprise”
Page 44: “authorities succintly” changed to “authorities succinctly”
Page 121: “in these circumstance” changed to “in these circumstances”
Page 136: “rather then decreasing” changed to “rather than decreasing”
Page 141: “while thay have achieved” changed to “while they have
achieved”
Page 149: “a specialy designed” changed to “a specially designed”
Page 162: “peculiarly situate” changed to “peculiarly situated”
Page 272: “enchanced recovery” changed to “enhanced recovery”
Page 300: “naturally subsidary” changed to “naturally subsidiary”