Nothing Is Waste!

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 370, 2 June 1928, Page 26

Nothing Is Waste!

Auckland Has Something to Learn from Glasgow’s Methods

(Written for THE SUN by HE day of harbour pol- | -->U j lution and the reekiug tl : “tip” has long since Urn) B | passed. Modern sc-ien-tific methods o£ sewk —- i ' 4 a ge an( ] city refuse disposal enable us to transform obnoxious and health-endangering waste material into wealth. New- Zealand lags behind in this matter, but a start must soon be made —especially in the Queen City which has not as yet advanced beyond the partial incineration and dumping stage. The City of Glasgow has probably the best all-round cleansing and sewage disposal system of any cityin the world, and the sanitary engineers and health officers of New Zealand would do well to follow- the example of that city. Forty Years Ago It is more than 40 years since Glasgow abolished the dumping method. Prior to the adaption of modern mechanical and chemical treatment of all refuse and sew-age the River Clyde had become practically an open tidal sewer which at times obtruded itself upon the olfactory senses in a veryforcible manner—not unlike some of our own Auckland “tips” and choice spots in the harbour. Nothing is Waste The problem under the old dumping system is to get rid of the w-aste and the accompanying unpleasantness and disease by carting it away to “tips” and running it through pipes. But that is only shifting the dirt from one place to another. Removal is

ALEXANDER SCOTT.) and dispatch works (there are a dozen ot these) are completely- covered so as not to soil the streets through which they- pass, and once the load of refuse is received they- race through the deserted streets at express speed to discharge it and return for another. To cleanse a city like Glasgow between midnight and eight o’clock in the morning requires speed and organisation. And to do this without disturbing the sleeping populace is an accomplishment of no mean order. Transforming the “Dirt” After collection, the process of turning all this waste into wealth (instead of dumping it or partly- incinerating and partly- dumping) begins. All refuse is subjected to a system of mechanical treatment of various sorts at different works. In the process of mechanical separation by- means of endless carriers and riddling machinery, old tins, enamelware, iron, glass, bones, and so on, are picked off. The old tins are “de-tinned” at the works and sold in solid billets. By- means of draining, sifting, mixing, incinerating and crushing, valuable fertiliser and concrete material are produced. The fertiliser, known as prepared city manure, finds a ready sale among farmers. The mechanically crushed and graded clinker w-hich remains after incineration is also in great demand as a material for making fine concrete.

The departmental grainery and extensive workshops, where the vehicles of the department are made and repaired, are operated by modern machinery driven by power derived from

not enough. Under the new system, as carried out by Glasgow and some other cities, practically nothing is wasted, nothing thrown away, nothing destroyed but the obnoxiousness. But everything is transformed. From the sweepings of the streets, from the contents of garbage cans, from sewage, comes power to drive modern machinery in large workshops, valuable fertilisers of various _sorts. chemicals, concrete, metals and other substances of commercial value. Waste ? Nothing is waste! While the City Sleeps In Glasgow- the streets are machineswept and hose-washed during the night. All household garbage and dustbins are cleared before business hours begin and a heavy fine is imposed for leaving a dustbin on the streets after 9 a.m. The principal business thoroughfares, in addition to being sw-ept and hosed at night, are “picked” during the day, the sweepings being deposited in iron bins sunk in the pavements at regular intervals. These bins are emptied during the night by the mechanical sweepers. Separate collections of w-aste paper, trade refuse and stable manure are arranged. Paper is a marketable commodity and a source of considerable revenue to the department. For the convenience of business firms having a large amount of paper waste, bags are provided. Household refuse from tenements is deposited in covered receptacles kept in the back courtyard. These are removed during the night, the shed being cleaned by the collector and the full bin replaced by a clean, disinfected one. The night collectors w-ork in comparative silence, being provided with rubber shoes. At Express Speed The powerful motor-wagons which convey this refuse to the destructors

the destructor furnaces. The department owns 700 railway wagons, and these also are kept in repair at the workshops. Useless Bogland Made Fertile Material left unsold is taken to the half-dozen big farms owned and operated by the corporation, there to he utilised in improving the land. On these farms is grown all the hay required for the department’s large stud of fine Clydesdale horses, as well as great quantities of turnips, high-grade oats and other grains and vegetables. Hitherto useless bogland has been turned into rich agricultural land by the proper use of city refuse. More than one-quarter of the cost of general cleansing in Glasgow is met by revenue from the sale of the byproducts (fertiliser, etc.) of city refuse. Sewage Works As with general cleansing, so with sewage. There is wealth in sewage. All sewage in the Glasgow area passes through biological filters and undergoes various treatments in the several large sewage disposal works. Many valuable chemicals are extracted in the process of clarification and a very valuable fertiliser is produced and supplied in pressed cake and also in powder form. About half a million tons of this fertiliser were sold in the first 15 years. The powder is known as “Globe Fertiliser,” and brings a good price. A very interesting exhibit in the industrial section of the Glasgow Museum consists of a long row of stoppered glass containers which show the many valuable substances extracted from sewage. A certain amount of sludge which remains in the bottoms of the tanks, being of no apparent value, is loaded into a fast twin-screw steamer owned by the department and taken 60 miles out to sea, where it is discharged into 90 fathoms of water. That is the only dumping done by Glasgow.