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To get to recycling as a process of our time, we should necessarily look at the genesis of waste. Whereas in the old societies waste was extremely scarce and mainly of a biological nature, today waste has a very different character – it can be hazardous, household waste, construction waste, biodegradable and many other types that make it either useless rubbish or a valuable raw material.
The facts speak for themselves when we want to gain insight into the past and present of waste:
PAST:
- 500s BC – First Waste Act established by the authorities of the Greek polis Athens. The law stated that waste must be transported at least one mile away from the city gates.
- 1515 – Records from Stafford v. Avon show that Shakespeare’s father was fined for littering in the street.
- 1757 – In the United States, Benjamin Franklin established the first municipal street cleaning service in Philadelphia. Around the same time, American households begin to bury their garbage instead of throwing it out the windows and doors of their homes.
- 1776 – The first recycling of metals took place when the statue of King George III in New York was melted down and turned into bullion.
- 1870 – France – Louis Pasteur proved the link between hygiene and public health.
- 1885 – First incinerator built in the USA.
- 1904 – First aluminium recycling plants open in Cleveland and Chicago.
- The 1930s saw the beginning of the production of plastics from petroleum-based chemical products. Plastics production grew slowly over the next 20 years to peak in the 1950s.
PRESENT:
- There are 6 times more plastic particles than zooplankton in the world’s oceans.
- If you arrange the plastic cups produced in just 1 day in a straight line, it will circle the Earth along the Equator.
- Today, humanity uses nearly 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000) polythene bags each year.
- 5 billion tonnes of waste are generated each year in the EU.
- Every European produces on average about 500 kg of waste per year.
Image: Gabrovo Municipality, “Spring clean-up of unauthorized dumps” campaign