By Lanny Hickman

Our technologies and information systems seem to expand exponentially every moment of every day. There is so much to try to understand. Didja ever wonder how lasers actually work? Didja ever wonder how those huge aircraft carriers actually float? The same question holds true with 747 jumbo jets: how do they really get off the ground? How about your VCR? Didja ever wonder why, even though the 125-page owner's manual and "technical services" that you called on an 800 number tell you how to watch one show and tape another, you can seem to make it work? For those of you who work in solid waste management with entry dates around 1985 or later, didja ever wonder why we do what we do today to manage, or mismanage, solid waste? Maybe you really don't care; many readers probably slept through history classes in school. But John Trotti asked me for a guest editorial and I am taking advantage of his bloody pulpit to answer a few "didja ever wonder" questions about our business.

Didja ever wonder how we decided that 6 inches of daily cover are just right for a sanitary landfill? Back in the 1950s or so, when we were beginning to eliminate the hundreds of thousands of open-burning dumps in the United States with rudimentary sanitary landfills, the question of how thick daily cover should be was asked. Ralph Black, an unsung hero in solid waste management, was tasked with answering that question. His work showed that about 3 inches were adequate to prevent adult flies from escaping a landfill. However, a 3-inch cover was too thin for tracked vehicles to travel over without re-exposing solid wastes. On the other hand, a 6-inch cover was just right to prevent re-exposure, and voilà, 6 inches became the standard for daily cover.

Didja ever wonder why twice per week became the collection frequency of choice? It really had nothing to do with the amount of solid waste generated. Twice-per-week collection interrupted the life cycle of the common housefly. Being prolific lovers and breeders, flies can lay, hatch, and grow adult flies in about seven days. Twice-per-week collection stopped that nonsense and we were able to lessen the fly population in urban areas, get the immature fly out to the landfill, and bury it under 6 inches of daily cover.

Didja ever wonder why the federal government has a solid waste program? The feds' entry into solid waste management is tied to the open dump, poliomyelitis, and worker safety. The US Public Health Service (USPHS) charged with protection of the nation's public health began in the mid-1950s to study potential open dumps as a source for the transmission of the poliomyelitis virus. The presence of rats, mosquitoes, and flies at dumps made them prime candidates for breeding grounds of the virus. USPHS was able to trace flies from the dumps to downtown, tying the open dump to disease vectors. The organization also noted the high occupational health threat to solid waste workers, especially collection workers. These investigations led to a USPHS determination that how we managed refuse/garbage was a health threat requiring national action. This led, in 1965, to the passage of the Solid Waste Disposal Act (SWDA), the organic federal solid waste legislation. The act also noted the waste of resources from the discard of materials. SWDA established a federal solid waste program, the precursor of the EPA solid waste program. The act was subsequently amended several times - the Resource Recovery Act of 1970, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, and the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments in the 1980s.

Didja ever wonder how automated collection came to be? Well, out of the USPHS early work on worker health and safety came an effort to reduce injuries to solid waste workers, especially collectors. Funds were provided by USPHS, especially to fund a project in Scottsdale, AZ. The result was the birth of Godzilla and Son of Godzilla, the first fully automated collection vehicles.

Didja ever wonder why we use European waste-to-energy (WTE) technology? The EPA solid waste program, formerly the USPHS solid waste program, funded a number of studies to find out why WTE was so successful in Europe and such a bummer in the United States. Studies revealed that the Europeans employed a systems approach where grate manufacturers provided a complete package - build, install, and operate a complete plant. This led to heavy promotion of this approach in the United States by EPA and the manufacturers. The European approach became the approach of choice, resulting in a preemption of the traditional US architect and engineer approach.

Didja ever wonder why recycling took off in the 1980s? I don't have an answer for this question; I myself am still wondering. I am glad it happened, though, and I betcha once we figure it out, we will be able to make recycling grow into the dominant method of solid waste management.

Didja ever wonder why we do not have a realist national materials use policy? I don't have an answer for sure. However, experience tells me that those who control the development and utilization of materials in this country also control those who can make national materials use policies.

Progress in solid waste management in the past 50 years or so has been tremendous. We have moved away from labor-intensive collection approaches, open-burning dumps, smoking and toasting incinerators, and little salvaging. Today, automated collection has arrived. Our sanitary landfills are the finest in the world, and they serve as the foundation for an integrated solid waste management system. Our WTE plants are the most carefully controlled plants on Planet Earth. Recycling has become a major part of solid waste management. I wonder what the next 50 years will bring?   

Information for this guest editorial was drawn from American Alchemy: The History of Solid Waste Management in the United States by H. Lanier Hickman, Jr., P.E., DEE, and published by Forester Press.            

Lanny Hickman is former executive director of SWANA and a member of MSW Management's Editorial Advisory Board.

MSW - July/August 2004