Millions from Waste

by Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot

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.