Enforcement of Collection Regulations
In cities in England and on the Continent, where the ashes, garbage and rubbish are collected together, collections are in general made three times a week; when collected separately, one collection a week is regarded as sufficient.
Detailed regulations should be made and distributed on cards among householders. They should include the kind of receptacle to be used, how the waste should be prepared to facilitate collection and where the cans should be placed. For example, Richmond, Virginia, provides by ordinance that the occupant of any house shall cause all ashes and other non-combustible refuse matter to be put in receptacles of not less than five or more than twenty-four gallons capacity. Ashes and other non-combustible matter is construed to mean ashes from coal and other fuel and such material substances as may collect in connection with the ordinary conduct of a household, but not such as may result from building operations or repairs. Any person violating any of these provisions must pay a fine of not less than $1 or more than $20.
The enforcement of regulations is facilitated by and grows easier with the growth and development of the collection system and with the regularity of collection. It is always difficult at first. The rules and regulations, a description of the collection system and the aims of the collecting department should be printed on cards and hung in every household. Annual clean-up campaigns have been found useful by officials who desire to educate the public.
Disposal of Ashes and Rubbish
The following methods of disposal are used by cities:
(1) Dumping.
(2) Burning combustible rubbish that is not salable and using the ashes to fill in low land, or for road or sidewalk making, or selling part for use in partitions for fireproof buildings or for laying cellar floors.
(3) Incinerating with garbage.
When the dumping method is used cities either own their own dumps or secure the privilege for or without a fee for disposing of the waste upon land privately owned. In most cases the waste is used for fill and no fee is paid by the city. A few seacoast cities dump their combined refuse at sea, but this practise is condemned. Where only ashes and rubbish are used the most common practise is to place the rubbish and light material near the bottom and to surface the dump to a depth of several feet with ashes. This makes a neat and finished appearance. Where ashes, rubbish and garbage are collected and dumped together, many cities have found that the so-called sanitary fill method, described in the chapter on garbage, is the most satisfactory. It is becoming more and more difficult for cities to maintain dumps on account of the congestion of population, which forces the municipality to seek disposal places far away from the centers, thus increasing the length of haul. If paper, garbage and combustibles are allowed on the dump, fires are apt to result and these make odors and smoke which are unpleasant and unhealthful. These fires are often very difficult to extinguish, especially if the dump is a deep one. Iron cages are sometimes used at the dump for burning the valueless combustible rubbish.