CHAPTER XX
THE FUTURE OF THE WASTE PROBLEM: POSSIBILITIES FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT
What is to be the future of the Waste Problem? This is the question agitating all circles to-day. The observance and practice of economic methods are being forced upon us owing to the high prices which are obtaining for every description of raw material, whether intended for the table or the factory.
To a certain degree the action is automatic, from the simple circumstance that supplies are strictly limited. Money does not constitute such a determining factor to-day as was the case five years ago, although of course it still exercises a far-reaching influence. But the mere fact that an adequacy of raw materials cannot be procured merely because one may be disposed to pay fictitious prices, is stimulating interest in the waste issue to a degree which, under conventional conditions, would never have obtained. In times of plenty one does not pause to consider for a moment as to whether it is worth while to devote any time and energy to the exploitation of a certain refuse.
But the great question is one not so much concerning what we can derive from wastes, but whether we have really digested the lessons which the enemy has taught us. On every side we see startling evidences of what he was able to do by scientifically turning over and using the rubbish-heap, and the great wealth he was able to acquire by following such practices. We found ourselves hit at every turn and, in the hope of solving the critical situations which arose, were forced to follow the enemy’s example and become a nation of chiffonniers. We have acquired wealth in the process, have discovered the value of the mine which the junk pile represents, and realize that more wealth still remains to be extracted from such untapped resources.
We have also become intimately conversant with what may be described as the most perplexing phases of the problem, the greatest of which is the segregation and collection of the residues. It is upon this rock that all future effort regarding the scientific exploitation of waste, in these islands at all events, is in danger of being wrecked.
The mere description of what we ourselves cannot use in the course of our operations, as waste, or rubbish, invests the project with a dangerously false atmosphere. Being regarded as worthless there is a tendency towards the opinion that its collection and segregation should be conducted along honorary lines. This is a precarious policy, because it repudiates the fundamental law of the labourer being worthy of his hire, whether it be in ploughing, the smelting of steel, shipbuilding, or the collection of waste.
Simultaneously another immutable law is being flouted. All matter, irrespective of its character, which is capable of being considered as a raw material, must command a market value. It may be high, or it may be low, but the fact remains unchallenged that it possesses a certain intrinsic worth. Refuse, which can be worked into something useful, is just as much raw material as a shipload of ore, or a consignment of gold. It is its mere classification as waste which imperils its commercial significance. This is demonstrated by the sudden importance and value it instantly commands when it becomes labelled, not “waste,” but a by-product.
In these circumstances, therefore, it would represent a decided progressive step if a recognized market could be established in waste products. By so doing all residues could be given accepted commercial values with which one and all might become acquainted by perusing quotations, in precisely the same way as the movement in the prices of raw materials may be followed by reference to the daily or weekly market lists. Until such time as wastes become so recognized the uncertainty of supply must obtain, because it is the very ignorance of the subject which contributes to the loss of such material through fire and other equally destructive measures with its appalling loss of wealth.
The establishment of a market price for all and every description of waste would act as the direct incentive to preserve anything and everything for further possible use. This was proved very conclusively during the war, when bones and paper were in such urgent request, the one for the reclamation of the fat, and the other for re-pulping. Under normal conditions both wastes had received indifferent consideration, and immense quantities of the two materials suffered complete useless destruction by fire. The premium placed upon the price of bones was only ½d., or 1 cent, a pound, the butcher being regarded as the collecting medium. That is to say the bones would be paid for at the above rate upon surrender to the butcher. The reward was not high, but it proved to be sufficient to induce people to husband their bones and to dispose of them in the recognized market. It was the same with paper. The average housewife devoted but little attention to the harvesting of this waste until she learned that the authorities were ready to pay 1d.—2 cents—at least per pound therefor through its accredited agents. Instantly she commenced to display thrift, and was somewhat surprised by the money which could be picked up in this manner. Yet it is safe to assert that had no financial value been placed upon these wastes barely 50 per cent. of what was actually secured would have been forthcoming.
Unfortunately there is a large class of waste exploiters which is disposed to trade upon the ignorance or indifference of the community. In the knowledge that the average house, office and factory has no conception of the value of its refuse, or is ready to part with it for nothing because it is regarded as a nuisance, the waste merchant is disposed to become discriminatory and autocratic. He is perfectly ready to acquire what he knows full well possesses a distinct value so long as he can get it for nothing. The moment the owner sets a value upon the flotsam and jetsam the waste merchant will have nothing to do with it. He assumes an indifferent if not a dictatorial and impossible attitude to which the second party to the projected bargain takes immediate exception. The upshot is that sooner than part with the material for nothing, and in the knowledge that the acquirer is certain to sell out in turn at a profit, the material is withdrawn completely from possible circulation, and so suffers irretrievable loss. To barter is human, and this applies as forcibly to waste as to houses, commodities and produce in general.
The waste market must be set upon a firm and solid basis. Those who have specialized in this field of trading during the past few years, and, as a result, have become acquainted with its possibilities, and the true value of such material as is to be obtained through the devious channels, are in the position to effect such a reform. The price of waste is naturally subsidiary to the fluctuations in the market quotations of the materials whence it is drawn, as well as of those normally employed in the industries to which waste may be applied. The general conditions are decidedly more complex than those prevailing in the handling of straight materials, for the simple reason that then only the one market needs to be watched.
Factors of cost also require to be closely followed. In the true economic and scientific exploitation of all waste products the question of cost is vital. It may easily jeopardize such utilization. Naturally a margin of profit must be available from the working-up of the material, not only to ensure its use, but also to safeguard the sources of supply. This margin must be determined, not on the top of the market as is the case at the present moment when conditions are abnormal, but when prices for raw materials are at their minimum. If, then, the exploitation of waste can be conducted in such a way as to compete successfully with ostensible raw materials, recovery must hold its own to become more and more profitable as the market rises. By-products can be exploited only so long as the cost of preparing them for commerce proves profitable. If it should become cheaper to treat raw materials for a similar article then waste reclamation must suffer abandonment, except in those rare instances where every contributory source of supply must be pressed into service. Such conditions rarely obtain on a low market, because the latter is directly attributable to the circumstance that supply is in advance of demand. It is the inversion of this law which forces high prices.
Efforts have been made to stimulate the preservation and surrender of waste along voluntary lines. But such measures cannot hope to be commercially successful, except under peculiar circumstances, as for instance when patriotism may act as the incentive. The voluntary handling of waste must of necessity prove wanting because it is deficient in discipline, method, and organization such as science demands to fulfil the conquests she indicates. Compulsory measures are absolutely imperative, otherwise all the mickle which makes the muckle must slip through the meshes of the net, no matter how well it may be cast. The Germans were enabled to bid defiance to the world, notwithstanding the stringency of the blockade, by the elaboration of rigid laws ensuring the collection of all waste. Such measures were in force more or less during the halcyon pre-war days, but were severely tightened up when national existence was seriously threatened. Similar compulsory methods will need to be introduced into this country to ensure the full recovery of valuable materials for industry, that is if we are to reduce our purchases from abroad. The desired end can be achieved indirectly by prohibiting the acquisition of the obvious raw materials from foreign sources, because instantly the refuse and residues capable of taking the place of the raw materials will commence to appreciate in value and accordingly will be preserved and utilized.
But the citizens of Britain are opposed to compulsion in any and every form. To impose such conditions is to interfere with the liberty of the subject, although absolute and unfettered freedom, as experience has adequately testified, reacts against the welfare of the individual and the community in general. Failing uncompromising compulsory measures is it possible to achieve comparative success by spontaneous private enterprise?
To obtain an indication of what can be achieved in this direction it is necessary to go to the French capital. There an enterprising and energetic Frenchman, Monsieur Verdier-Dufour, undoubtedly built up one of the largest businesses in the world—founded upon dust-bin waste. The organization was somewhat intricate and full of inner workings although highly effective in the production of results, because the guiding spirit knew that everything has its specific use.
The operation commences in the gutter at the bin in which the householder has dumped his refuse and which he has moved to the kerbstone for collection. Now the Frenchman is a cute bargainer, as the whole world knows, and the concierge, after the passing of the ordinance compelling the householder to bin his refuse, promptly saw a means to improve his pocket. The bin was a lucky dip and accordingly was well worth exploiting as a concession. He promptly drove a bargain with one class of the vast army of Paris waste-gatherers which entitled the individual to rummage the bin before the collector came along, the only requirement being that the “miner” should be up early and on the spot before the refuse carts commenced operations. The placier, as this individual is called, did his work well—the bin contained little of material value after he had sorted its contents. But other less luckless members of the garbage-rummaging fraternity did not spurn to submit the tailings from the first process to another treatment and reap a harvest in the process.
The odds and ends gathered in this manner, and which were of a most diversified nature, for the most part found their way to Monsieur Verdier-Dufour’s establishment, where the precise value of each article, and the grade of each range of substances, became known to the uttermost centime. Nothing was too small to be examined and each article had its individual bin. The man at the helm knew the exact application for each article, while he was a master-mind in following the markets. When quotations were abnormally low he could hold on for the return of better times. His waste commanded the admiration of the firms with which he dealt because he maintained the standard of his products which were exactly as described. Manufacturers merely had to dump the waste into their machines, thus treating it as if it were raw material. There was no interference with the rigid routine of their business, nor were they called upon to expend a further penny in rendering the waste suitable for their intentions. So the master-mind built up a large and highly lucrative business and thus there was very little household waste which escaped reclamation.
Co-operative societies among the rag-pickers supplemented individual effort in this field. In this instance the process is simpler because it is conducted along broader lines. Sorting is not conducted to such a fine degree as under the individual system above described. Consequently it suffers because lower prices are paid. Waste commands a price according to the time and labour which will have to be expended by the purchaser before such material can be safely turned into the precise channels of the huge manufacturing machine for which it has been acquired.
The objection to both co-operative and individual methods, such as I have described, is that they can only be conducted upon the requisite scale in the very largest cities where the volume of material to be handled is relatively heavy. Waste must be forthcoming in a steady stream of uniform volume to justify its exploitation, and the fashioning and maintenance of these streams is the supreme difficulty.
Ostensibly, in this country we have the very finest machinery in existence for the reclamation of waste of every description—the municipal and civic authorities. But, as results have conclusively demonstrated, they are the least efficient institutions in this respect. The few cities which are able to point to great achievements in this field are the very exceptions which serve to prove the rule. They do so in the most convincing manner, and incidentally bring home to us very vividly the enormous wealth which we are deliberately throwing away through lack of enterprise and adequate organization.
The system is responsible for this deplorable state of affairs. The average municipal engineer, even if anxious to excel in this province, finds himself hampered at every turn. He is not vested with sufficient authority or freedom to carry any carefully prepared scheme into operation without the sanction of this, or that, Committee which, as a rule, is notorious for its lack of practical knowledge, more particularly in all matters pertaining to the value of waste. Then the multiplicity of officials and their salaries reacts against every possibility of a scheme being turned into a financial success.
It is a matter for serious discussion as to whether our whole system of waste recovery, in so far as it affects municipalities, should not be overhauled from top to bottom—even superseded. It should be entrusted to private enterprise acting under licence. Were such a force encouraged we might safely anticipate the provision of well-equipped comprehensive plants, similar to those which I have described, for the treatment of waste of every description incurred within the district in which it operates. To this centre should be borne refuse of every description for segregation and preparation for the mills of industry. Private enterprise, from its close contact with the markets, would be able to set prices at which it would be prepared to purchase waste of every description from a dog-mauled bone to a worn-out scrubbing-brush; a discarded daily paper to an abandoned straw hat or pair of tattered boots.
By fixing prices for all and every description of residue preservation and segregation at the source would be encouraged. The housewife, caretaker of the office, and manager of the factory would see that all waste was carefully husbanded, and that nothing possessing the slightest value would be thrown away. The dust-collectors could be encouraged to participate in the general round-up of waste by being given a commission upon all useful material brought in. It might be an over-riding commission to ensure complete and frequent collection. It is only necessary to apply sufficient stimulus in the form of hard cash to ensure that nothing is wasted. Private enterprise could carry out such a scheme whereas municipal authorities are precluded from following such a course.
Under private auspices it would also become possible to exploit the waste accruing in our rural districts. Residences by the wayside, hamlets and country homes from their isolation have escaped the tentacles of previous recovery systems. No recognized specialist in residues, with the exception perhaps of the wardrobe dealer, ever passes their way to pay a call. But, with modern motor transport facilities it would be possible to call at these possible scattered sources of supply for anything and everything, and at regular intervals, so that the owners might be induced to preserve their useful materials. It is maintained that such collection would never prove profitable. Possibly not when considered upon its own footing, but when contemplated in a general scheme it would not only be lucrative, but contribute to the higher efficiency of the plant employed from being able to raise the working output to one more closely approaching the maximum capacity.
Such a method of recovering the waste would stimulate competition which, in turn, would tend to the hardening of prices to the advantage of those who have waste for disposal. The plant would only need to study local conditions in so far as the disposal of readily decomposing refuse was concerned, such as that from householders, fish, meat and other organic matter. The municipal authorities, by virtue of their powers, would be able to ensure that this class of refuse was collected and treated promptly in the interests of the health of the community. Such waste as is not susceptible to deterioration could be sent or drawn from distant points, according to the advantage of price offered, as is actually the case to-day in regard to certain materials.
Private enterprise would also exercise another far-reaching beneficial influence. It would not lag behind the clock of progress. Science is ever advancing and the exploitation of waste lies in its true scientific utilization. Under the present conditions inventive effort in this province is not able to exercise the influence or reap the benefits which it really deserves. The tendency to be satisfied with what is already installed, no matter how inefficient it may be, is too deeply implanted. On the other hand, competition is the lever which impels private enterprise. To turn a blind eye to invention is to court disaster.
Although we have made vast strides during the past few years in the processes of reclamation and utilization of waste we are still far from having penetrated the threshold of the new world of industry, science, and invention which it embraces. The unknown lies before us. For aught contemporary knowledge can say, other triumphs and vast fields of conquest, comparable with those associated with the gas and oil industries, are waiting to be discovered, and this fact is adequate to foster experiment, research, and investigation.
We talk glibly of exploiting waste, but how many products entering intimately into our everyday life are being passed through the mill of reclamation? A little reflection will speedily exhaust the list. If we look around we can satisfy ourselves how much and what a variety of substances are still being permitted to run to utter loss. We have not yet found a use for spent matches, or a means of retipping those which have been scarcely lighted, despite the fact that this indispensable attribute to modern civilization has increased from 300 to 800 per cent. in price. How many typewriter ribbons are used by the tens of thousands of offices in the country during the year, and what is done with them when withdrawn from the machines as being unfit for further service? What is done with the stones and kernels from the millions of pounds of stone-fruits consumed during the year? The inventor is still confronted with the prize which will result from the discovery of an economic use for the 370,000,000 lb. of spent tea-leaves and 100,000,000 lb. of coffee-grounds left in our pots, cups, and urns during the twelve months.
The lists of wastes awaiting profitable disposal are extremely lengthy. Some appear to be as impossible of successful solution as the discovery of the non-refillable bottle. But effort is not confined to the perfection of processes for the treatment of untouched wastes, because the real solution of this problem lies in the full scientific utilization of the product reclaimed. The fact that a waste is being exploited does not imply that such utilization is the most profitable. Investigation may indicate another and totally different, as well as more lucrative application for a certain material. So the inventor is not confined to a narrow field; his opportunities are illimitable.
There is one outstanding factor governing waste reclamation which often escapes observation. It is the only means whereby the cost of living may be reduced. Obviously, if a specific substance, whether it be a foodstuff or raw material for manufacture, be applied exclusively to one individual purpose, and without the residues resulting from its preparation, a certain quantity of which must necessarily be incurred, being turned to any economic account, the one application must bear the whole of the cost involved. It is by turning the residues to some profitable account that the cost of the primary product can be reduced to an attractive level, and the wider the margin of profit on the by-products and the more numerous the latter, the greater the reduction possible upon the quotation for the staple.
For instance, were coal still to be distilled exclusively for its gas, the price of the latter to-day would be so high as to be prohibitive to all but the wealthy. It is the ability to exploit from two to three hundred, or more, by-products arising in the distillation process, which enables the gas itself to be sold at a figure bringing it within the reach of all. What would be the cost of our clothes were it not possible for the mills to take the discarded woollen garments, shred them, combine the reconstructed fleece with new wool, and thus produce a new cloth? It is shoddy, or mungo, which has solved the problem of good clothing at a relatively low price for all, because, to-day, there are very few of us who could afford to buy suits made of 100 per cent. new wool.
There are few spheres of activity offering such attractions, or holding out such tremendous prizes to the persevering and brilliant of thought as that identified with the exploitation of wastes. The field is so vast as to be open to the endeavours of the layman as much as to the master of knowledge. While many of the questions to be answered are of severe technical significance, there are many which are equally capable of solution by the man, or woman, who has had no technical training. There are many “crown cork” problems awaiting solution, while there is equal scope and opportunity for those possessed of the powers of organization.
The opinion prevails in certain quarters that the present wave of interest in the scientific reclamation of waste is merely ephemeral. Doubtless this feeling prevails because of the extreme length to which the fetish of cheapness and extravagance had carried us and which shortcomings appeared to be so firmly ingrained as to form part of the British character. To a certain degree prevailing high prices are certain to persuade us to pay closer regard to this issue than has heretofore been the case. Nevertheless, the longer such abnormal conditions obtain the more impressed shall we become of the wealth to be won from waste. They will compel us to strive to extract the utmost from the raw material placed in our hands. They will induce us to become more and more reluctant to discard a material after we have secured all apparent worth which it appears to be capable of yielding, from the fear that the ultimate residue may still contain something of potential value which we have not succeeded in discovering.
While, doubtless, the gradual relapse of conditions to the normal will exercise the effect of causing us to pay decreasing regard to the value of the wastes, it is to be hoped that, by the time such a stage has been reached, we shall have become so powerfully impressed with the potentialities of residues as to continue to exploit them instinctively. If such be the case we shall find ourselves in the position of being better armed for the coming commercial struggle with Germany, to whom waste has brought extraordinary wealth in the past. Thus equipped we should be able to meet a remorseless and clever commercial antagonist on more than level terms.
Of one thing we may rest assured. Germany, past-master in the art of exploiting wastes, will exert herself far more strenuously in this field in the future than she has ever done before. Economic considerations will compel her to keep her foreign purchases of raw materials down to the irreducible minimum and to force her sales abroad to the absolute maximum in order to secure the rehabilitation of her trade balance. To consummate this end she will leave no stone unturned to exploit her refuse of every description to the full. No one knows more than Germany what can be done with the so-called rubbish-heap, and no other country is more cognizant of the fact that the industrial exploitation of waste creates wealth. So it behoves us to keep a tight hand upon our residues from household, office, and factory, and to exploit them ourselves to our own financial and economic advantage.
THE END