| 10000 BC |
Garbage becomes an issue as people first begin to establish permanent
settlements |
|
|
| 400 BC |
The first municipal dump is established in ancient Athens |
|
|
| 200 |
The first sanitation force is created by the Romans. Teams of two
men walk along the streets, pick up garbage and throw it in a wagon. |
|
|
| 1388 |
The English Parliament bans dumping of waste in ditches and public
waterways. |
|
|
| 1551 |
The first recorded use of packaging: German papermaker Andreas Bernhart
begins placing his paper in wrappers labeled with his name and address. |
|
|
| 1657 |
New Amsterdam (now Manhattan) passes a law against casting waste
in the streets. |
|
|
| 1690 |
The Rittenhouse Mill, America's first paper mill, opens in Philadelphia
making paper from recycled cotton and linen as well as used paper. |
|
|
| 1710 |
Colonists in Virginia commonly bury their trash. Holes are filled
with building debris, broken glass or ceramic objects, oyster shells
and animal bones. They also throw away hundreds of suits of armor
that were sent to protect colonists from arrows of native inhabitants. |
|
|
| 1776 |
The first metal recycling in America occurs when patriots in New
York City melt down a statue of King George III and make it into bullets. |
|
|
| 1792 |
Benjamin Franklin uses slaves to carry Philadelphia's waste downstream. |
|
|
| 1800 |
Pigs loose in city streets throughout the country eat garbage and
leave their own wastes behind. |
|
|
| 1800 |
Visitors describe New York City as a "nasal disaster, where some
streets smell like bad eggs dissolved in ammonia." |
|
|
| 1810 |
The tin can is patented in London by Peter Durand. |
|
|
| 1834 |
Charleston, West Virginia, enacts a law protecting vultures from
hunters. The birds help eat the city's garbage. |
|
|
| 1850 |
Junk dealers in Reno, Nevada scavenge personal belongings from
the Oregon, Santa Fe and California trails. Pioneers abandoned the
items on the long trek west. |
|
|
| 1860 |
American newspapers are now printed on paper made from wood pulp
fibers rather than rags. |
|
|
| 1860 |
Residents of Washington, D.C. dump garbage and slop into alleys
and streets, pigs roam freely, slaughterhouses spew nauseating fumes
and rats and cockroaches infest most dwellings including the White
House. |
|
|
| 1866 |
New York City's Metropolitan Board of Health declares war on garbage,
forbidding the "throwing of dead animals, garbage or ashes into the
streets. |
|
|
| 1868 |
Brothers I.S. and John Hyatt successfully manufacture "celluloid,"
the first commercial synthetic plastic. It replaces wood, ivory, metal
and linen in such items as combs, billiard balls, eyeglasses and shirt
collars. |
|
|
| 1869 |
The first commercial plastic, called celluloid, was developed by
an entrepreneurial maker of dental plates and novelty items. He had
answered an ad placed by a supplier of billiards equipment offering
a reward for developing a suitable replacement material for elephant
ivory to make billiard balls |
|
|
| 1872 |
New York City stops dumping its garbage from a platform built over
the East River. |
|
|
| 1874 |
The organized incineration of collected trash begins in Nottingham,
England. |
|
|
| 1879 |
Frank Woolworth opens the first five and dime store in Utica, New
York. He pioneers the idea of displaying goods on open counters so
customers can see and feel merchandise (a practice that later makes
larger, theft proof packaging necessary). |
|
|
| 1879 |
"Thither were brought the dead dogs and cats, the kitchen garbage
and the like, and duly dumped. This festering, rotten mess were picked
over by rag pickers and wallowed over by pigs, pigs and humans contesting
for a living from it, and as the heaps increased, the odors increased
also, and the mass lay corrupting under a tropical sun, dispersing
the pestilential fumes where the winds carried them." - Minister describing
the New Orleans dump to the American Public Health Association. |
|
|
| 1880 |
Many Americans still believe that diseases such as typhoid fever
are caused by "miasma" or gases coming from garbage and sewers. |
|
|
| 1880 |
New York City scavengers remove 15,000 horse carcasses from the
streets. |
|
|
| 1885 |
The first garbage incinerator in the U.S. is built on Governors
Island in New York Harbor. |
|
|
| 1885-1908 |
180 garbage incinerators are built in the United States. |
|
|
| 1889 |
"Appropriate places for (refuse) are becoming scarcer year by year,
and the question as to some other method of disposal…must soon confront
us. Already the inhabitants in proximity to the public dumps are beginning
to complain." - Health Officer's report, Washington, D.C. |
|
|
| 1892 |
Beer bottles now sport a metal cap to prevent spoilage. |
|
|
| 1893 |
"The means resorted to by a large number of citizens to get rid
of their garbage and avoid paying for its collection would be very
amusing were it not such a menace to public health. Some burn it,
while others wrap it up in paper and carry it on their way to work
and drop it when unobserved, or throw it into vacant lots or into
the river." - Boston Sanitary Committee |
|
|
| 1894 |
The citizens of Alexandria, Virginia are disgusted by the sight
of barge loads of garbage floating down the Potomac River from Washington,
D.C. They take to sinking the barges upriver from their community. |
|
|
|
|
| 1895 |
King C. Gillette, a traveling salesman, invents a razor with disposable
blades. |
|
|
| 1896 |
Chicago's City Council records its concern for the death rate in
the 19th Ward, which has eight miles of unpaved roads that can't be
swept, roads "polluted to the last degree with trampled garbage, excreta
and other vegetables and animal refuse of the vilest description." |
|
|
| 1897 |
The first recycling center is established in New York City. |
|
|
| 1898 |
Colonel George Waring, New York's Street Cleaning Commissioner,
organizes the country's first rubbish sorting plant for recycling. |
|
|
| 1899 |
The federal Rivers and Harbors Act restricts dumping in navigable
rivers, to keep them open for shipping. |
|
|
| 1900 |
American cities begin to estimate and record collected wastes.
According to one estimate, each American produces annually: 80 - 100
pounds of food waste; 50 - 100 pounds of rubbish; 300 - 1,200 pounds
of wood or coal ash - up to 1,400 pounds per person. |
|
|
| 1900 |
Greater acceptance of the germ theory of disease begins to shift
the job of garbage removal from health departments to public works
departments. Health officers, it is felt, should spend their time
battling infectious diseases, not cleaning up "public nuisances" such
as garbage. |
|
|
| 1900 |
Hills Brothers Coffee in San Francisco puts the first vacuum-packed
coffee on the market. |
|
|
| 1900 |
Small and medium sized towns build piggeries, where swine are fed
fresh or cooked garbage. One expert estimates that 75 pigs can eat
one ton of refuse per day. |
|
|
| 1900 |
There are over 3 million horses working in American cities, each
producing over 20 pounds of manure and gallons of urine per day, most
of which is left on the streets. |
|
|
| 1902 |
A survey of 161 cities by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
finds that 79% of them provide regular collection of refuse. |
|
|
| 1903 |
Corrugated paperboard containers are now used commercially. |
|
|
| 1904 |
Large-scale aluminum recycling begins in Chicago and Cleveland. |
|
|
| 1904 |
Montgomery Ward mails out 3 million catalogues weighing four pounds
each. |
|
|
| 1904 |
Postmaster General Henry Clay Payne authorizes permit mail. This
means that with a single fee, 2,000 or more pieces of third or fourth
class mail can be posted without stamps. This opens the door for direct
mail advertising and mass solicitations. |
|
|
| 1905 |
New York City begins using a garbage incinerator to generate electricity
to light the Williamsburg Bridge. |
|
|
| 1907 |
An unexpectedly thick run of toilet paper is converted to become
the first paper towels. |
|
|
| 1908 |
paper cups replace tin cups at water vending machines on trains
and in public buildings. |
|
|
| 1909 |
102 of 180 incinerators built since 1885 are abandoned or dismantled.
Many had been inadequately built or run. Also, American's abundant
land and widely spaced population made dumping garage cheaper and
more practical. |
|
|
| 1909 |
Kraft paper pulp first made in the United States, a process developed
in Germany in 1883. |
|
|
| 1910 |
City beautification programs become more and more popular. Many
cities have juvenile sanitation leagues whose members promise to help
keep streets and neighborhoods clean. Sanitation works wear white
uniforms, reminiscent of other public workers such as doctors and
nurses. |
|
|
| 1912 |
Cellophane (clear plastic) is invented by Swiss chemist Dr. Jacques
Brandenberger, which encourages the use of plastic packaging. |
|
|
| 1914 |
W.K. Kellogg invents a wax paper wrapper for Corn Flakes boxes. |
|
|
| 1915 |
The National Clean-Up and Paint-Up bureau sponsors 5,000 local
clean-up campaigns. |
|
|
| 1916 |
Dr. Thomas Jasperson obtains a patent for making paper from de-inked
wastepaper. |
|
|
| 1916 |
Major cities estimate that of the 1,000 to 1,750 pounds of waste
generated by each person per year, 80% is coal and wood ash. |
|
|
| 1916 |
Waxed paper is commonly used to wrap bread. |
|
|
| 1917 |
Shortages of raw materials during World War I prompt the federal
government to start the Waste Reclamation Service, part of the War
Industries Board. Its motto is "Don't Waste Waste - Save it." Every
article of waste is considered valuable for industry. |
|
|
| 1920 |
During this decade, "reclaiming" or filling wetlands near cities
with garbage, ash and dirt becomes a popular disposal method. |
|
|
| 1920 |
The first commercial radio broadcast. The technology held far reaching
implications for advertising and purchasing. Americans buy 1.5 million
radios within the year. |
|
|
| 1924 |
The Kleenex facial tissue is introduced. |
|
|
| 1926 |
Clarence Saunders opens the first supermarket. Pre-packaged food
and self service packaging increases selection for consumers and lowers
the cost of food. |
|
|
| 1928 |
Cellophane is invented by the DuPont Cellophane Company. The transparent
material is used as a protective wrapping for food and other products. |
|
|
| 1928 |
Teleprinters and teletypewriters come into use. |
|
|
| 1929 |
Aluminum foil is invented. |
|
|
| 1930 |
A new plastic, polyvinyl chloride, is patented by B.F. Goodrich.
It is used as a replacement for rubber, as protection against corrosion
and for adhesives. |
|
|
| 1930 |
Another plastic, polystyrene, is put on the market by a German
firm, I.G. Farben, and also produced by Dow Chemical Company. The
hard, shiny material is molded into tackle boxes, refrigerator linings
and other items. |
|
|
| 1930 |
Kimberly Clark develops disposable sanitary pads. |
|
|
| 1932 |
The development of compactor garbage trucks increases vehicle capacity. |
|
|
| 1933 |
Communities on the New Jersey shore obtain a court order forcing
New York City to stop dumping garbage in the Atlantic Ocean. On July
1, 1934, the Supreme Court upholds the lower court action, but applies
it only to municipal waste, not commercial or industrial wastes. |
|
|
| 1935 |
Rohm and Haas invents Plexiglass, a clear plastic used in headlights,
lenses, windows, clocks and jewelry. |
|
|
| 1935 |
General Electric begins producing and marketing a garbage "Disposal." |
|
|
| 1935 |
The first beer can is produced by Kreuger's Cream Ale in Richmond,
VA. Over the next six months, company sales increased 550% because
customers loved the convenience. |
|
|
| 1936 |
Milk products are now commonly sold in paper packaging. |
|
|
| 1937 |
The DuPont Company patents nylon, the world's first synthetic fiber.
Its strength, resistance to moisture and mildew, and good recovery
after stretching lead to its use in stockings, electrical parts, power
tools and car accessories. |
|
|
| 1939 |
Coal and wood ash make up 43% of New York City's refuse, down from
80% in 1916. |
|
|
| 1939 |
Paperback books are introduced, selling for 25 cents. |
|
|
| 1939 |
Wisconsin Select beer is sold in no deposit, no return bottles
to compete with the recent introduction of beer in no return cans. |
|
|
| 1939 |
Birds Eye introduces the first pre-cooked frozen foods - chicken
fricassee and criss cross steak. |
|
|
| 1940 |
Japanese conquests in Southeast Asia cut of America's supply of
tin, hampering canned food production. |
|
|
| 1941 |
America enters World War II. Rationing of such materials as wood
and metal forces an increased reliance on synthetic materials such
as plastics. Low-density polyethylene film, developed during wartime,
replaces cellophane as the favorite food wrap by 1960. |
|
|
| 1942 |
Americans collect rubber, paper, glass, metals and fats to help
the war effort. Paper collections are so successful they overwhelm
the markets by the spring of 1942. |
|
|
| 1942 |
Methods and materials for wartime shipment of food make World War
II "the great divide" in the packaging and storage industry. |
|
|
| 1943 |
The aerosol can is invented by two researchers at the U.S. Department
of Agriculture. |
|
|
| 1944 |
Styrofoam is invented by Dow Chemical Co. |
|
|
| 1945 |
The first American ballpoint pens go on sale for $12.50 each at
Gimbel's in New York. |
|
|
| 1946 |
Fortune Magazine heralds the arrival of the "dream era…The Great
American Boom is on." |
|
|
| 1947 |
"Our willingness to part with something before it is completely
worn out is a phenomenon noticeable in no other society in history…It
is soundly based on our economy of abundance. It must be further nurtured
even through it runs contrary to one of the oldest inbred laws of
humanity, the law of thrift." - J. Gordon Lippincott, industrial designer |
|
|
| 1948 |
American Public Health Association predicts that the garbage disposal
will cause the garbage can to "ultimately follow the privy" and become
an "anachronism." |
|
|
| 1948 |
Fresh Kills landfill is opened in Staten Island, New York. It later
becomes the world's largest city dump. Fresh Kills and the Great Wall
of China are the only man-made objects visible from space. |
|
|
| 1950 |
A second hydraulic system to eject garbage is added to garbage
trucks. |
|
|
| 1950 |
An improved paper cup for hot beverages is introduced. It is lined
with polyethylene instead of wax. |
|
|
| 1950 |
The growth of convenience foods (frozen, canned, dried, boxed, etc)
increases the amounts and changes the types of packaging thrown away. |
|
|
| 1953 |
The American economy's "ultimate purpose is to produce more consumer
goods." - Chairman of President Eisenhower's Council of Economic Advisors. |
|
|
| 1953 |
Swanson introduces the first successful TV dinner: turkey, mashed
potatoes and peas. |
|
|
| 1954 |
"Never underestimate the buying power of a child under seven. He
has brand loyalty and the determination to see that his parents purchase
the products of his choice." - Dr. Frances Horwitch ("Miss Frances"
of TV's Ding Dong School) at Chicago advertising conference. |
|
|
| 1957 |
High-density polyethylene (HDPE) is developed by Standard Oil of
Indiana and Phillips Petroleum (now used for milk containers.) |
|
|
| 1958 |
The Bic Crystal Company introduces the throwaway pen. |
|
|
| 1959 |
Philadelphia closes its reduction plant (a facility for turning
organic wastes into fats, grease and oils) the last one in the country. |
|
|
| 1959 |
The American Society of Civil Engineers publishes a standard guide
to sanitary landfilling. To guard against rodents and odors, it suggests
compacting the refuse and covering it with a layer of soil each day. |
|
|
| 1959 |
The first photocopier, the Xerox 914, is introduced - 22 years
after it was patented. |
|
|
| 1960 |
Bead molded polystyrene cups are introduced. They provide better
insulation for hot drinks. |
|
|
| 1960 |
Bread is sold bagged in polyethylene rather than wrapped in waxed
paper. |
|
|
| 1960 |
Easy open tops (pop tops) for beverage cans are invented. Iron
City Beer in Pittsburgh is the first to try the invention and sales
increase immediately. |
|
|
| 1960 |
The first disposable razors are sold. |
|
|
| 1961 |
Sam Yorty runs successfully for mayor of Los Angeles on a platform
to end the inconvenience of separating refuse. A city ordinance eliminates
the sorting of recyclables. |
|
|
| 1963 |
The aluminum can for beverages is developed. |
|
|
| 1965 |
The Federal Government realizes that garbage has become a major
problem and enacts the Solid Waste Disposal Act. This calls for the
nation to find better ways of dealing with trash. |
|
|
| 1968 |
President Lyndon Johnson commissions the National Survey of Community
Solid Waste Practices, which provides the first comprehensive data
on solid waste since cities began to record amounts and types of waste
in the early 1900s. |
|
|
| 1968 |
The U.S. aluminum industry begins recycling discarded aluminum
products, from beverage cans to window blinds. |
|
|
| 1969 |
Seattle, Washington institutes a new fee structure for garbage
pick up. Residents pay a base rate for one to four cans and an additional
fee for each additional bundle or can. |
|
|
| 1970 |
The Federal Clean Air Act enacted. New regulations lead to incineration
shut downs. |
|
|
| 1970 |
The first Earth Day. Millions of people rally nationwide on April
22. |
|
|
| 1970 |
United States Environmental Protection Agency is created. |
|
|
| 1971 |
Oregon passes the nation's first bottle bill. By offering cash
for aluminum, glass and plastic containers, it removes about 7% of
its garbage from the waste stream. |
|
|
| 1972 |
According to William Ruckelshaus, head of EPA, solid waste management
is a "fundamental ecological issue. It illustrates, perhaps more clearly
than any other environmental problem, that we must change many of
our traditional attitudes and habits." |
|
|
| 1972 |
The Federal Clean Water Act is enacted to restore and maintain the
chemical, physical and biological integrity of the nation's waters. |
|
|
| 1972 |
The first buy-back centers for recyclables are opened in Washington
State. They accept beer bottles, aluminum cans and newspapers. |
|
|
| 1974 |
The first city-wide use of curbside recycling bins occurs in University
City, Missouri for collecting newspapers. |
|
|
| 1975 |
"That happiness is to be attained through limitless material acquisition
is denied by every religion and philosophy known to humankind, but
is preached incessantly by every American television set." - Robert
Bellah, The Broken Covenant. |
|
|
| 1976 |
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act creates the first significant
role for federal government in waste management. It emphasizes recycling
and conservation of energy. |
|
|
| 1976 |
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act is passed, which requires
all dumps to be replaced with "sanitary landfills." The enforcement
of this act will increase the cost of landfill disposal, and that
will make resource-conserving options like recycling more appealing. |
|
|
| 1976 |
The Toxic Substances Control Act is passed. Before this and the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act went into effect, any individual
or business could legally dump any kind and amount of hazardous chemicals
in landfills. |
|
|
| 1976 |
Three people from Bartlesville, Oklahoma get a patent on a method
for purifying and reusing lubricating oils. |
|
|
| 1977 |
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) soda bottles are introduced to
replace glass bottles. The plastic was first developed in England
in 1941. |
|
|
| 1978 |
The Supreme Court rules that garbage is protected by the Interstate
Commerce Clause; therefore, one state cannot ban shipments of waste
from another. |
|
|
| 1979 |
EPA issues landfill criteria that prohibit open dumping. |
|
|
| 1980 |
Polypropylene is introduced and used for butter and margarine tubs
and for drinking straws. |
|
|
| 1983 |
The space shuttle is pulled out of service to replace a window
that had been severely pitted by a chip of paint from space junk. |
|
|
| 1984 |
During the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, athletes, trainers, coaches
and spectators produce 6.5 million pounds of trash in 22 days, more
than six pounds per person per day. |
|
|
| 1984 |
Hazardous and Solid Waste Act amendments and reauthorization to
the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act require tougher federal
regulation of landfills. |
|
|
| 1986 |
Fresh Kills, in Staten Island, New York, becomes the largest landfill
in the world. |
|
|
| 1986 |
Rhode Island becomes the first state to pass mandatory recycling
laws for aluminum and steel cans, glass, newspapers and #1 and #2
plastic. |
|
|
| 1986 |
Rhode Island enacts the nation's first statewide mandatory recycling
law. |
|
|
| 1986 |
The city of San Francisco meets its goal of recycling 25% of its
commercial and residential waste. |
|
|
| 1987 |
The Garbage Project at the University of Arizona, Tucson begins
to excavate modern landfills as if they were ancient archaeological
sites. The goal is to determine exactly what is inside landfills and
how much of it biodegrades. |
|
|
| 1987 |
The Mobro, a Long Island garbage barge, is turned away by six states
and three countries. The garbage (mostly paper) is finally incinerated
in Brooklyn and the ash buried in a landfill near Islip. |
|
|
| 1988 |
"Nobody ever has enough." - Lewis Lapham, Money and Class in America. |
|
|
| 1988 |
The EPA estimates that more than 14,000 landfills have closed since
1978, more than 70% of those operating at that time. The landfills
were full, unsafe or the owners declined to adhere to new standards. |
|
|
| 1988 |
The Plastic Bottle Institute develops a material-identification
code system for plastic bottle manufacturers (this is our current
#1-#7 system). |
|
|
| 1989 |
EPA issues "An Agenda for Action," calling for an integrated solid
waste management approach to solving solid waste problems with waste
problems, with waste prevention and recycling as its first two priorities. |
|
|
| 1990 |
140 recycling laws enacted in 38 states and the District of Columbia. |
|
|
| 1990 |
McDonald's announces plans to stop the use of Styrofoam packaging
of its food due to consumer protests. |
|
|
| 1990 |
Neither shortening nor lengthening product life can be a general
principle. The strategy, rather, is to fine tune the durations of
things, now avoiding cheap things that break too soon and clog our
trash cans, now expensive objets that last too long and clog our lives."
- Kevin Lynch, Wasting Away. |
|
|
| 1990 |
On December 4, both Coca-Cola and Pepsi announced that they will
begin using a recycled PET (#1 plastic) bottle made of about 25% recycled
plastic resin. |
|
|
| 1991 |
EPA issues comprehensive municipal solid waste landfill criteria
required by the Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendment. |
|
|
| 1991 |
"Our economy is such that we cannot 'afford' to take care of things:
labor is expensive, time is expensive, money is expensive, but materials
- - the stuff of creation - - are so cheap that we cannot afford to
take care of them." - Wendell Berry |
|
|
| 1993 |
Municipal Solid Waste landfill criteria become effective for most
landfills in the U.S. |
|
|
| 1993 |
"We're reminded a hundred times a day to buy things, but we're not
reminded to take care of them, repair them, reuse them or give them
away." - Michael Jacobson, Center for the Study of Commercialism |
|
|
| 2000 |
Cities in California are required to recycle 50% of its waste. |
|
|
|
|
1998 - The Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition
Service.
Timeline found on http://www.astc.org/exhibitions/rotten/rthome.htm |