GARBAGE. DISPOSAL OF. The question of the proper disposal of gar bage and refuse has been one of the most important problems of municipal life. In the United States, the term garbage is used to designate kitchen waste of animal or vegetable origin, incident to the preparation and serving of food. Aside from household wastes, there are various classes of trade and manufac turing refuse, such as paper, rags, and shavings. It is the custom to keep or ganic and inorganic wastes in separate receptacles. Ashes are the chief inor ganic substances, but no practical meth od has been found for their use, except as a filling. Garbage collection in large cities is undertaken by the city. A rela tively small number of cities and towns have adopted thoroughly modern sani tary methods of garbage and refuse disposal.
The first garbage furnaces used to in cinerate garbage, were installed in Great Britain. The first furnace in the United States built for a city was in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1887. Furnaces are of various types. Most of them are con structed upon English models.
The sorting of refuse has come to be highly specialized in some cities of the United States. The first city to install a well equipped refuse sorting plant was Boston. In sorting, the refuse is
brought to a station, dumped and shov eled into an inclined conveyor from which are sorted the various grades of paper, rags, and other kinds of mer chantable refuse. The remainder is dumped automatically into a furnace and burned. There are refuse sorting plants at Buffalo, Pittsburgh, New York, and other cities.
Garbage reduction is intended to re cover grease and fertilizing material from animal and vegetable waste, while at the same time sanitary means are afforded for final disposal. The equip ment required is somewhat elaborate, and includes tanks, dryers, grinding mills, and other apparatus. Many cities have municipal reduction plants. These include Cleveland, Ohio; Columbus, Ohio; Buffalo, N. Y.; New York City; and other cities.
Following the World War the utiliza tion of garbage by feeding to hogs in creased rapidly in the United States. The cities of Baltimore, Newark, Buf falo, and St. Louis changed from reduc tion to hog feeding, in 1919. In many other cities this method was used in disposing of garbage.