Environment and planning
Recycling, rubbish and waste
Recycling - information and advice
Welcome To Wirral
History of Disposing of Our Rubbish
The problem of what to do with waste has increased throughout history. As man has become more sophisticated and prosperous, the material he produces and throws away reflects a changing society. To begin with, the problem was manageable, but as the population increased and lifestyles changed, measures had to be taken to tackle the growing problem. Here is a brief history of waste through the ages:
Pre history - In the early days of the hunter-gatherer, life was simple; ash from fires, bones and animal waste were left on the ground to enrich the soil, and broken tools or pottery were left behind when nomads moved on.
3000 BC - Knossos – basic landfill sites were in use.
2000 BC - Europe - bronze was recovered from waste, and reused.
500 BC - Athens - first municipal landfill site one mile outside the city.
13th Century Britain - Waste burned on open fires in houses, or thrown out into the streets.
1297 - New law requiring householders to keep the front of their houses clear, but people didn’t take much notice of it.
Mid 14th Century - Men were employed as rakers, to cart the filth away to pits outside the city gates.
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.
18th Century - Industrial Revolution began and goods were being produced cheaply, consumption increased and people moved to the towns. The traditional rural methods of disposal, such as feeding waste to the pigs were not possible in urban areas, where the streets were full of piles of filth and garbage
1847 - Introduction of Destructors. Destructors were prototype incineration plants that burnt mixed fuel producing steam to generate electricity. During the next 30 years, 250 destructors were built in Britain. They were opposed on the grounds of the emissions of ashes, dust and charred paper, which fell onto the surrounding neighbourhood.
1875 - The Public Health Act 1875 charged local authorities with the duty to arrange the removal and disposal of waste, starting an evolution of local authority power. This replaced the previously widespread practice of scavenging.
Late 1800's - Household waste was collected daily in moveable bins. A large proportion of the waste was salvaged, revealing the extent of reuse and recycling systems e.g. materials such as glass and metal were returned to merchants.
1907 - An amendment to the Public Health Act 1875 extended refuse collection to include trade refuse, and authorised local authorities to levy charges.
1936 - The Public Health Act 1936 ruled that the accumulation of waste, which was prejudicial to health was a statutory nuisance. Authorities were given the power to prosecute over uncontrolled dumping, cesspools and scavenging.
World War II - During the world wars, waste regulation became less of a priority. Although local councils made efforts to legislate for the dumping of refuse, appalling situations developed in places around the country where vast tips up to a mile long burnt continuously.
Post War - Landfills were constructed to cope with post war debris at the most convenient cost and locations. There was little thought of their environmental impact or such consequences as water pollution and methane gas.
1954 - The Clean Air Act 1956 was passed signalling a decrease in the number of open fires in homes. The composition of household waste changed from being predominantly ash, dust and cinder from fires, to being made up of other wastes such as food and paper that would previously have been put on the fire.
1974 - Increasing concern over waste led to the Control of Pollution Act 1974, which aimed for much wider control of waste disposal and regulation of sites, and began a serious tightening up of waste disposal methods.
1977 - The first bottle banks appeared in Britain.
1990 - The Government produced This Common Inheritance, its first comprehensive White Paper on the environment. This set out a waste strategy which regarded waste minimisation and recycling as priorities, and set an aspirational target of 25% for the recycling of household waste by the year 2000.
1994 - The European Union brought in the Packaging Directive, setting targets for businesses to recycle more of the packaging they produce. These laws were part of the new initiative called 'producer responsibility.
1996 - The Landfill Tax was introduced, which levied £7 per tonne on active waste going to landfill in order to encourage alternatives such as reuse and recycling, and promote waste minimisation. The tax has increased every year since.
1999 - The European Union Introduced the Landfill Directive to tighten landfilling standards and to set targets to reduce the amount of waste disposed of in this way. This encouraged the UK Government to develop its first comprehensive National Waste Strategy.
2000 - the government’s National Waste Strategy set new higher targets for local authority recycling, paved the way for a network of energy recovery incinerators and further discouraged landfilling as a means of waste disposal. New targets were set for 30% municipal waste recycling by 2010 and 66% recovery by 2015.
2003 - The European Union brought in more 'producer responsibility' laws, this time tackling waste electrical equipment e.g. TV's, washing machines, computers etc
2005 - The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act introduced more legislation and advice to manage our local environments.
2007 - Government updated waste strategy was published. This has set higher targets than the previous strategy and urges anyone who deals with packaging to reduce reuse and recycle, for example supermarkets. The strategy encompasses a far wider remit than previously published in 2000.