Kerbside collection
Encyclopedia
Municipal solid waste
Municipal solid waste , commonly known as trash or garbage , refuse or rubbish is a waste type consisting of everyday items we consume and discard. It predominantly includes food wastes, yard wastes, containers and product packaging, and other miscellaneous inorganic wastes from residential,...
. It is usually accomplished by personnel using purpose built vehicles to pick up household waste in containers acceptable to or prescribed by the municipality.
History
Prior to the 20th century the amount of waste generated by a household was relatively small. Household wastes were often simply thrown out the window, buried in the garden or deposited in outhouses (see more at urban archaeologyUrban archaeology
Urban archaeology is a sub discipline of archaeology specialising in the material past of towns and cities where long-term human habitation has often left a rich record of the past....
). When human concentrations became more dense, waste collectors, called nightmen or gong farmer
Gong farmer
Gong farmer , was a term that entered use in Tudor England to describe someone who dug out and removed human excrement from privies and cesspits; the word "gong" was used for both a privy and its contents...
s were hired to collect the night soil
Night soil
Night soil is a euphemism for human excrement collected at night from cesspools, privies, etc. and sometimes used as a fertilizer. Night soil is produced as a result of a waste management system in areas without community infrastructure such as a sewage treatment facility, or individual septic...
from pail closet
Pail closet
A pail closet was a room used for the disposal of human excreta, under the pail system of waste removal. The closet was a small outdoor privy which contained a seat, underneath which a portable receptacle was placed. This pail, into which the user would defecate, was removed and emptied by the...
s, performing their duties only at night (hence the name). Meanwhile, disposing of refuse became a problem wherever cities grew. Often refuse was placed in unusable areas just outside the city, such as wetlands and tidal zones. One example is London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, which from Roman times disposed of its refuse outside the London Wall
London Wall
London Wall was the defensive wall first built by the Romans around Londinium, their strategically important port town on the River Thames in what is now the United Kingdom, and subsequently maintained until the 18th century. It is now the name of a road in the City of London running along part of...
beside the River Thames
River Thames
The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
. Another example is 1830s Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
, where thousands of hogs were permitted to roam the streets and eat garbage. A small industry developed as "swill children" collected kitchen refuse to sell for pig feed and the rag and bone man
Rag and bone man
Rag and bone man is a British phrase for a junk dealer. Historically the phrase referred to an individual who would travel the streets of a city with a horsedrawn cart, and would collect old rags for making fabric and paper, bones for making glue, scrap iron for recycling, and assorted miscellany...
traded goods for bones (used for glue) and rags (essential for paper manufacture prior to the invention of wood pulp
Wood pulp
Pulp is a lignocellulosic fibrous material prepared by chemically or mechanically separating cellulose fibres from wood, fibre crops or waste paper. Wood pulp is the most common raw material in papermaking.-History:...
ing). Later, in the late nineteenth century, trash was fed to swine in industrial piggeries.
As sanitation engineering came to be practiced beginning in the mid-19th century and human waste was conveyed from the home in pipes, the gong farmer was replaced by the municipal trash collector
Waste collector
A waste collector is a person employed by a public or private enterprise to collect and remove refuse and recyclables from residential, commercial, industrial or other collection site for further processing and disposal...
as there remained growing amounts of household refuse, including fly ash
Fly ash
Fly ash is one of the residues generated in combustion, and comprises the fine particles that rise with the flue gases. Ash which does not rise is termed bottom ash. In an industrial context, fly ash usually refers to ash produced during combustion of coal...
from coal, which was burnt for home heating. In Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, the rag and bone man worked side by side with the municipal bin man, though reluctantly: in 1884, Eugène Poubelle
Eugène Poubelle
Eugène-René Poubelle was the man who introduced the dustbin, or trash can, to Paris and after whom the French dustbin is now named...
introduced the first integrated kerbside collection and recycling system, requiring residents to separate their waste into perishable items, paper and cloth, and crockery and shells. He also established rules for how private collectors and city workers should cooperate and he developed standard dimensions for refuse containers: his name in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
is now synonymous with the garbage can. Under Poubelle, food waste and other organics collected in Paris were transported to nearby Saint Ouen where they were composted. This continued well into the 20th century when plastics began to contaminate the waste stream.
From the late-19th century to the mid-20th century, more or less consistent with the rise of consumables and disposable products
Disposable
A disposable is a product designed for cheapness and short-term convenience rather than medium to long-term durability, with most products only intended for single use. The term is also sometimes used for products that may last several months to distinguish from similar products that last...
municipalities began to pass anti-dumping ordinances and introduce curbside collection. Residents were required to use a variety of refuse containers to facilitate kerbside collection but the main type was a variation of Poubelle's metal garbage container. It was not until the late 1960s that the green bin bag
Bin bag
A bin bag, swag sack or bin liner or garbage bag, trash bag, refuse sack, black sack, or can liner is a disposable bag used to contain rubbish. Such bags are useful to line the insides of waste containers to prevent the insides of the receptacle from becoming coated in waste material...
was introduced by Glad
Glad (company)
Glad is an American company specializing in trash bags and plastic food storage containers.-History:The Glad brand originated in the United States in 1963 when the owner and CEO of the company, David Darroch, launched "Glad Wrap", a polyethylene film used as a food wrap. Douglas G. Taylor was...
. Later, as waste management
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
practices were introduced with the aim of reducing landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
impacts, a range of container types, mostly made of durable plastic, came to be introduced to facilitate the proper diversion of the waste stream. Such containers include blue boxes, green bin
Green bin
A green bin is a short, rigid container used to collect biodegradable waste or compostable materials as a means to divert waste from landfills. In some localities green bins are also used to contain unsorted municipal waste...
s and wheelie bins or MGBs.
Over time, waste collection vehicle
Waste collection vehicle
Garbage truck refers to a truck specially designed to collect small quantities of waste and haul the collected waste to a solid waste treatment facility. Other common names for this type of truck include trash truck and dump truck in the United States, and bin wagon, dustcart, dustbin lorry, bin...
s gradually increased in size from the hand pushed tip cart or English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
dust cart, a name by which these vehicles are still referred, to large compactor trucks.
Waste management and resource recovery
Curbside collection is today often referred to as a strategy of local authorities to collect recyclable items from the consumer. Curbside collection is considered a low risk strategy to reduce waste volumes and increase recycling rates. Materials are typically collected in large bins, colored bags, or small open plastic tubs, specifically designated for content.Recyclable materials that may be separately collected from municipal waste include:
Biodegradable waste
Biodegradable waste
Biodegradable waste is a type of waste, typically originating from plant or animal sources, which may be degraded by other living organisms. Waste that cannot be broken down by other living organisms are called non-biodegradable....
component
- Green wasteGreen wasteGreen waste is biodegradable waste that can be composed of garden or park waste, such as grass or flower cuttings and hedge trimmings, as well as domestic and commercial food waste...
- Kitchen waste
- PaperPaperPaper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
Other recyclable components
- PlasticPlasticA plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
s (#1 PETPolyethylene terephthalatePolyethylene terephthalate , commonly abbreviated PET, PETE, or the obsolete PETP or PET-P, is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers; thermoforming applications; and engineering resins often in combination...
, #2 HDPE natural and colored, #3 PVCPVCPolyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...
narrow-necked containers, #4 LDPE, #5 PPPolypropylenePolypropylene , also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications including packaging, textiles , stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes...
, #7 other mixed resin plastics) - GlassGlassGlass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
- Metals (ferrous and non-ferrous)
- Co-mingled recyclables- can be sorted by a clean materials recovery facilityMaterials recovery facilityA materials recovery facility or materials reclamation facility or materials recycling facility is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers...
Curbside collection of recyclable resources is aimed to recover purer waste streams with higher market value than by other collection methods. If the household incorrectly separates the recyclable elements they load may have to be put to landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
if it is deemed to be contaminated.
Curbside collection and household recycling schemes are also being used as tools by local authorities to increase the public's awareness of their waste production.
Curbside collection is commonly considered to be completely environmentally friendly. This may not necessarily be the case as it leads to an increased number of waste collection vehicles on the road, in themselves contributing to global warming through exhaust emissions until the time of their conversion to clean energy.
New and emerging waste treatment technologies such as mechanical biological treatment
Mechanical biological treatment
A mechanical biological treatment system is a type of waste processing facility that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion...
may offer an alternative to curbside collection through automated separation of waste in recycling factories.
Canada
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
has adopted "Curbside" Recycling and uses blue bins. The blue cart program accepts all types of recycables, including plastics 1-7. It is picked up weekly for the cost of $8.00 per month. This program is mandatory.
Many Canadian municipalities use "green bin
Green bin
A green bin is a short, rigid container used to collect biodegradable waste or compostable materials as a means to divert waste from landfills. In some localities green bins are also used to contain unsorted municipal waste...
s" for curbside recycling. Others, such as Moncton, use wet/dry waste separation and recovery programs.
New Zealand
In New Zealand, curbside collection of general refuse and recycling, and in some areas organic waste, is the responsibility of the local city or district council, or private contractors. Practices and collection methods vary widely from council to council and company to company. Some examples of collection are:- Auckland City CouncilAuckland CityAuckland City was the city and local authority covering the Auckland isthmus and most of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, in the North Island of New Zealand. On 1 November 2010 it was amalgamated into the wider Auckland Region under the authority of the new Auckland Council...
: Two 240-litre wheelie bins are supplied: a red-lidded bin for general refuse, collected weekly, and a blue-lidded bin for recyclables, collected fortnightly. - Christchurch City CouncilChristchurchChristchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
: Three wheelie bins are supplied: a 140-litre red-lidded bin for general refuse, a 240-litre yellow-lidded bin for recyclables, and a 80-litre green-lidded bin for organic waste. The organic waste bins are collected weekly, while the recyclables and general refuse bins are collected on alternating weeks. - Hamilton City CouncilHamilton, New ZealandHamilton is the centre of New Zealand's fourth largest urban area, and Hamilton City is the country's fourth largest territorial authority. Hamilton is in the Waikato Region of the North Island, approximately south of Auckland...
and Hutt City CouncilLower HuttLower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
: A 45-litre bin is supplies for recyclables, collected weekly. General refuse is collected weekly using user-pays official council bags. - Dunedin City CouncilDunedinDunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
, Palmerston North City CouncilPalmerston NorthPalmerston North is the main city of the Manawatu-Wanganui region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is an inland city with a population of and is the country's seventh largest city and eighth largest urban area. Palmerston North is located in the eastern Manawatu Plains near the north bank...
and Wellington City CouncilWellington CityWellington City Council is a territorial authority in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Wellington city extends as far north as Linden, and includes the rural areas of Makara and Ohariu. It is New Zealand's third-largest city, behind Auckland and Christchurch.Wellington attained city status in...
: Two bins are supplied: a 45-litre or 70-litre bin for glass, and an 80-litre or 240-litre wheelie bin for non-glass recyclables. These two bins are collected on alternating weeks. General refuse is collected weekly using user-pays official council bags. - Rodney District CouncilRodney DistrictThe Rodney District of New Zealand was a local government area in the northernmost part in New Zealand's Auckland Region, created in 1989 from the amalgamation of Helensville Borough and Rodney County. The seat of the district council is at Orewa, and the district includes Kawau Island to the...
: A 45-litre bin is supplies for recyclables, collected weekly. There is no council collection of general waste, and all general waste collection is carried out by independent companies. - Taupo District CouncilTaupoTaupo is a town on the shore of Lake Taupo in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the seat of the Taupo District Council and lies in the southern Waikato Region....
: A 45-litre bin is supplies for recyclables, collected weekly. General refuse is collected weekly using user-pays system of orange tags - one orange tag is to be placed on a standard rubbish bag up to 60 litres capacity, or half an orange sticker can be placed on two supermarket bags tied together. - Upper Hutt City CouncilUpper HuttUpper Hutt is a satellite city of Wellington. It is New Zealand's smallest city by population, the second largest by land area. It is in Greater Wellington.-Geography:Upper Hutt is 30 km north-east of Wellington...
: Recycling is to be placed in plastic bags, with paper and cardboard collected in the first week, and plastic, metal and glass in the second week. General refuse is collected weekly using user-pays official council bags. - Waitakere City Council: A 140-litre wheelie bin is provided for recyclables, collected fortnightly. General refuse is collected weekly using user-pays official council bags.
By 1996 the New Zealand cities of Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, Waitakere
Waitakere
Waitakere City was the name of a city which existed from 1989 until 2010 in the Auckland region. It was New Zealand's fifth largest city, with an annual growth of about 2%...
, North Shore
North Shore, New Zealand
North Shore City was the name of a city that existed in the Auckland region of New Zealand from 1989 until 2010. The city had a population of making it the fourth most populous city in New Zealand prior to November 2010...
and Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt
Lower Hutt is a city in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Its council has adopted the name Hutt City Council, but neither the New Zealand Geographic Board nor the Local Government Act recognise the name Hutt City. This alternative name can lead to confusion, as there are two cities in the...
had curbside recycling bins available. In New Plymouth
New Plymouth
New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated....
, Wanganui
Wanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
and Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt
Upper Hutt is a satellite city of Wellington. It is New Zealand's smallest city by population, the second largest by land area. It is in Greater Wellington.-Geography:Upper Hutt is 30 km north-east of Wellington...
recyclable material was collected if placed in suitable bags. By 2007 73% of New Zealanders had access to kerbside recycling.
Curbside collection of organic waste is carried out by the Mackenzie District Council and the Timaru
Timaru
TimaruUrban AreaPopulation:27,200Extent:Former Timaru City CouncilTerritorial AuthorityName:Timaru District CouncilPopulation:42,867 Land area:2,736.54 km² Mayor:Janie AnnearWebsite:...
District Council. Christchurch City Council
Christchurch City Council
The Christchurch City Council is the local government authority for Christchurch in New Zealand. It is a territorial authority elected to represent the people of Christchurch. Since 2007, the Mayor of Christchurch is Bob Parker, who stood as an independent candidate...
is introducing the system to their curbside collection. Other councils are carrying out trials.
United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Household Waste Recycling Act (2003) requires local authorities to provide every household with a separate collection of at least two types of recyclable materials by 2010.There has been criticism in the difference of schemes used in the country such as the colour of bins, whether they are bins boxes or bags, and also the fact that clutter roads and how the additional trucks and collections needed have carbon dioxide emissions too. Some find the colour differences confusing, and people want a national scheme. A typical example is to compare two neighbouring councils in greater Manchester, Bury council and Salford. Bury uses blue for cans, plastic and glass, green for paper and cardboard and brown for garden waste. Salford uses blue for paper and card, brown for cans plastic and glass and pink for garden waste. Most councils use grey or black for general waste, with a few exceptions such as Liverpool, which uses purple for general waste, a colour used by no other council
Another controversial issue in the uk is the frequency of the waste collections. To save money, many councils are cutting the frequency of both general waste and recyclables collections. This has led to problems from larger families, and has led to overflowing and fly tipping. For example previously, Bury Council collected general waste once a week and recyclables fortnightly. This has now changed to fortnightly for general waste and monthly (every 4 weeks) collection of recyclables.
A few councils are using "forced" recycling, by replacing the large, 240l general waste bin with a smaller 180l or 140l bin, and using the old 240l one for recyclables. This may be made worse by fortnightly collections of the "small" bin, and strict rules such as "No extra bags will be taken" and "Bin lids must be fully closed". Stockport Council is a notable user of this scheme. Their recycling rates have risen substantially as a result, but there are usually complaints from families. Trafford council also use a similar scheme, but the small grey bin is emptied every week. In addition, the two named councils, and more, collect food waste together with garden waste, by sending out kitchen caddies and compostable liners. These prevent food waste (including meat) from going to landfill, and to increase the councils recycling rate. The food and garden waste is usually collected weekly or fortnightly, and is taken to an In Vessel composter or Anaerobic digester, where the waste is turned into soil improver for use on local farms.
In the north west, all the glass collected is used within the uk, around half of the plastics and cans are used in the uk; the rest is sent further afield to Europe or China to be made into new products, and paper and paperboard collected is sent to local paper mills to be made into newspapers, tissues, paperboard and office paper. Again some of the paper will be sent further afield.
Some councils only have 3 bins- general, organic and recyclables. This means that plastics, cans and glass go in the same container as paper and cardboard. Although this is much easier for the residents, there is more sorting required, and the paper quality is sometimes of a low grade due to food contamination or shards of glass in the paper, and so this scheme is criticized.
Also, most councils require residents to remove lids off bottles, and wash them out to avoid smells. This is because the lids are made from a different type of plastic (PP) to the bottle (PET/HDPE). Labels are rarely required to be removed, however. This also means that only plastic bottles are recycled. Councils are still trying to make clear that plastic tubs, bags and cling film cannot be recycled through the curbside economically. If too much contamination is collected then this results in the whole vehicle load going to landfill at a high cost. Contamination is usually a problem if recyclables are collected in wheelie bins, as the worker can only look at the top; there may be contamination 'hidden' at the bottom. Councils that use many bags and boxes (Edinburgh) suffer from less contamination but are complicated and the loose paper and cardboard, and recycling bags are blown around, and paper can be wet.
Criticisms
This type of collection service is subject to growing criticism.- The large (Wheelie bin) container encourages the "out of sight" rubbish mentality and invites more rubbish to be disposed.
- The bins and collection trucks are not suited to narrow roads or houses with steep driveways or steps.
- They lock local authorities into capital intensive equipment programmes and multi-national providers.
- Co-mingled recyclables are sometimes not being successfully managed by automated sorting stations and the rates of diversion are low. In some cases this results in mountains of unsorted recyclables.
- in the UK especially,some councils are sending out at least 4 large bins- residents of smaller houses with no gardens have little space to put them
See also
- History of waste managementHistory of waste managementHistorically, the amount of wastes generated by human population was insignificant mainly due to the low population densities, coupled with the fact there was very little exploitation of natural resources...
- Materials recovery facilityMaterials recovery facilityA materials recovery facility or materials reclamation facility or materials recycling facility is a specialized plant that receives, separates and prepares recyclable materials for marketing to end-user manufacturers...
- Mechanical biological treatmentMechanical biological treatmentA mechanical biological treatment system is a type of waste processing facility that combines a sorting facility with a form of biological treatment such as composting or anaerobic digestion...
- RecyclingRecyclingRecycling is processing used materials into new products to prevent waste of potentially useful materials, reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials, reduce energy usage, reduce air pollution and water pollution by reducing the need for "conventional" waste disposal, and lower greenhouse...