Burial
Garbage may be buried by putting it in shallow trenches and covering with the excavation from the trenches for the next day’s deposit, or by plowing under. It digests and is thoroughly taken up by or oxidized by the action of the soil. Experience has shown that for open soil 1.5 acres are required to handle each daily ton of garbage for one year, the same soil being in shape to re-use after two years. For heavy soils and those containing clay, about three acres are required and this can be used again after three years.
The Worcester Commission reports that cities which have buried by plowing have experienced more than occasional nuisance. Milwaukee and Columbus successfully disposed of their garbage by burying in trenches, before they constructed disposal plants. Milwaukee paid forty cents a ton to dispose of its garbage by this method.
A summary of the opinions indicates that disposal by burying when properly conducted and when the point of disposal is suitably located gives no cause for objection from a sanitary standpoint. The principal objections are the extremely long haul, the amount of land necessary and no direct income. In small communities this method is entirely satisfactory. It is usually not applicable to large communities.
Disposal Plants
There are two methods of disposing of garbage in plants—incineration and reduction. There is a wide diversity of opinion among experts and city officials as to which is the better from a sanitary and financial standpoint. There is, however, nearly universal opinion upon the following:
1. That the revenue from the by-products of municipally owned and operated plants will not pay the combined cost of collection and disposal.
2. That with only a few exceptions the revenue from the by-products of municipally owned plants does not pay the cost of disposal.
3. That the price received by cities from contractors is, with very few exceptions, not sufficient to pay the cost of collection.
4. That the disposal of garbage by the reduction process is uneconomical for a city with a population of less than 100,000. Some experts increase the size to 150,000 and one to 200,000.