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3
As to methods of collection and disposal of house REFUSE generally.
(a) Collection of refuge.
The collection of the refuse from houses is carried out either by the sanitary authority itself—
that is to say, the authority employ men, and have provided the necessary plant for the purpose, or else
by contract. At the time of enquiry it was ascertained that—
In 25 districts the collection was performed by the sanitary authority;
In 8 districts partly by the sanitary authority and partly by contract; and
In 14 districts by contractors.
The following system has been adopted for facilitating the collection at regular intervals throughout
most of the districts. Each district has been sub-divided into areas, each of which is visited by
the dustmen and carts on a specified day once a week, and in some cases twice a week, for the purpose of
collecting the house refuse. In some districts it is a part of the system to make a house to house call
in order to ascertain whether the dustbin requires to be emptied, but in others no call is made unless
some indication to this effect is given by the occupiers, either by placing a card bearing the letter D in
the window, by hailing the dustman as he drives down the street, or by arrangement with the sanitary
authority that a call shall be made at the house on a specified day, either once or more often during the
week.
In some of the districts, chiefly those situated in the central parts of the county, it is stated
that owing to the varying class of property and the existence of business premises, it has been found
necessary to have a daily removal in some streets, and a removal once, twice, or thrice a week in others,
rendering the same frequency of collection for the whole district, or a division of the district an
impracticability.
As the result of the enquiry it does, however, appear to be necessary in order to ensure a regular
weekly collection of the house refuse from all premises, that in those parts of a district in which a
daily collection is not in force a call should be made at every house once a week, either by an inspector
of the authority or by the dustman while on his round.
The collection of the refuse is generally made in carts or vans provided with some form of
cover. Tarpaulins are most generally in use for the purpose, but in some districts carts with flaps or
patent covers are used.
(b) Disposal of refuse.
In Appendix I. attached to the report to the Council by the engineer and medical officer of
health on dust destructors, particulars are briefly given of the different methods of disposal of the
house refuse collected in each of the London sanitary districts.
The methods in force at the date of that report, and also at the time of this enquiry, were—
(1.) Immediate removal from the district by barge or rail, or by both barge and rail without
previous manipulation.
(2.) Sorting and sifting of the refuse by machinery, or by hand-labour, prior to removal
by barge and rail.
(3.) Removal to shoots.
(4.) Burning in a destructor.
(1.) The first method has been adopted in the following districts—
Fulham. Chelsea. Kensington.
Hammersmith. Bermondsey. St. Pancras.
The Strand. Greenwich. Shoreditch.
St. Martin-in-the-Fields. Wandsworth (partly). St. Saviour.
Shoreditch. Islington. St. George-the Martyr.
Westminster. Camberwell. Lambeth.
St. George, Hanover-square (part of the refuse). St. James, Westminster (part of the refuse)
In all these cases the house refuse is conveyed by the dust cart, as soon as this is loaded, to a
wharf or railway siding, and there the refuse is either shot or loaded direct into barges and railway trucks
for removal to various parts of the country without undergoing any manipulation. The refuse which is
loaded into the railway trucks during the day is invariably removed at the end of that day. At wharves
situated on the river, the movements of barges depend on the tides, but the result of enquiries
made at these wharves, and also at those on canals, show that in practice the house refuse is brought
into the wharf, loaded into barges, and removed within twenty-four hours. Removal by barge is,
however, subject to interruption at times, owing to the occurrence of fog, ice, or neap tides, and it may
then be necessary to deposit the house refuse on the wharf temporarily for a longer period than
twenty-four hours.
(2.) The second method, namely, sorting and sifting of the refuse into its constituent parts, at
depots situated in London, is adopted in connection with the house refuse collected in the following
districts—
(a) By machinery—
Paddington.
St. George, Hanover-square (part of the refuse).
St. James (part of the refuse).
Marylebone.
(b) By hand labour—
Hackney (Dart of the refuse).
St. Giles
Holborn
It was stated by the contractor that part of the refuse from
these districts is at times sent away by barge at once.
Clerkenwell.