As with ashes, reports generally agree, that if all wastes are collected together as a rule the cost of collection will be less than if each is collected separately. The method of final disposal, the net cost of that method after deducting revenues, and the length of haul should be considered and carefully determined before any system of collection is adopted. The same arguments presented in the chapter about ash collection for and against the combined and separate methods of gathering ashes apply with equal force to the collection of garbage.
Robert H. Wylde, sanitary expert, advocates the mixed collection. He says: “There can be no doubt that the mixed collection is preferable from practically every point of view and possesses such great advantages that it is doubtful if it is ever compensated for (from the citizen’s point of view) by economies realized from any method of disposal requiring separate collection.” He also points out that for a separate collection, a city must have three distinct styles of carts, collections should be made in the early morning or during the night, and each house should be visited daily or at least every other day. Householders must be required to keep the materials in three separate receptacles; three calls must be made at each house and the same ground must be covered by three different classes of collector.
The Chicago City Waste Report, by I. S. Osborn and J. T. Fetherston, says that combined collection requires more frequent collection of ashes and rubbish than if garbage were collected separately. If separate collection of garbage is made a more frequent collection of garbage and a less frequent collection of rubbish and ashes can be made. If all wastes are collected together, it says, as a rule the unit cost for collection will be less than if collected separately.
In smaller communities, says Samuel A. Greeley, sanitary expert, it does not seem advisable to place all classes of refuse in one receptacle as ashes can be easily disposed of. By separating the garbage the bulk to be removed is smaller, the disposal by burial requires less land, much of the garbage can be sent to the farms for feeding, and the general cost of refuse disposal is reduced without seriously lowering the efficiency. In cities of from 30,000 to 50,000, he asserts, the mixed system requiring only one can at a house and permitting incineration without the use of additional fuel, has many advantages. In such small communities, he believes, garbage does not have the advantages for reduction purposes that it has for the larger cities.
Methods of Collection
There are three methods of collecting garbage:
(1) License System, by which the city licenses certain cartmen, the individuals paying the expenses, usually under regulation of the Board of Health.
(2) Contract System, which provides that city pay a fixed amount annually for service, that certain schedule be paid by householder, or that contractor pay a certain amount to the city for privilege of collecting, and charging the householder for the service.
(3) Municipal System, by which the city does work with own or hired teams. In some cities, city employees collect a part and scavengers or collectors, or both, collect the remainder.
Experts are generally agreed that the best of the three systems is the last. They say that there is always much trouble when the contractor is allowed to collect pay from citizens served, and that to sanitary officers must be given full authority to fine those who fail to have garbage removed. Contractors’ wagons also must be under the close supervision of sanitary officers.