WEALTH FROM WASTE

Evening Star, Issue 23481, 23 January 1940, Page 12

WEALTH FROM WASTE

BRITAIN'S NEW SALVAGE TASK As the shadow of a long and .exhaust-; ing war deepens there goes into action here yet another Government control, one which affects every householder, every factory, every local authority in Britain—salvage control, which ‘to-day embarks on a nation-wide campaign for turning industrial and household, waste into wealth (writes a London correspondent, of the ‘Christian Science Monitor). V Under the plana-of this control newspapers left behind in the train, bus tickets dropped by passengers, scraps from the dining room table, ashes and cinders from the living room fires,: old clothes from attic cupboards, are all to be made to play a more important part than ever before in reducing the need for imports. The salvage control also has a military side, and is to take over from the War Office the salvaging of damaged war material, equipment, and clothes. Waste materials are to be used to furnish extra raw materials for the metal and fibre industries, provide food for pigs and chickens, reclaim land, fertilise land, and provide more household fuel. " SEALED ORDERS.” .'All local authorities will shortly receive their first “sealed orders” for the new campaign, “ Salvage Circular One,” which under 45 headings gives general directions for the work. As •oon as possible householders are to be educated in the proper use of waste — there will be no compulsion. Natural •dentists afo being called in to assist in the promotion of waste-saving .processes in industry. All manufacturers have been asked to co-operate. Plans have also been laid for Britain’s voluntary social services to be employed in carrying out the campaign. The ideal at which the control aims is that literally nothing is wasted, no “ useless ” material for which a use can be found. This ideal may not be so far out of reach as might appear, for as the result of recent developments it depends on the public’s response to the campaign to save refuse, not on the problem of what to do with the refuse when you have got it. Until a few months ago whatever was done with waste n»wtVa-lal there was always an ultraaitc '* wiwitc product-from waste products.”- After the garbage had been

Mechanically separated, its metal, paper, and so forth recovered and the rest ‘mashed up for use as organic fertiliser;.or dump material for la..d reclamation there was always a dust left which .was generally believed to be useless. As a result of experiments in ■Scotland' it is now" proved that this d,usfc. has valuable properties when mixed with soil. So now, even this final factor is going to be employed in Bri- '■ tain’swealth from waste ” campaign. EXACT VALUE HARD TO FIX. • It is not known just how much wealth is going to result, and the directors of the salvage'control feel they cannot make any. accurate estimate. But the present campaign is not intrinsically new; it is only the intensification of the ordinary day to day activities, so it is possible to gain some dea of the value of waste from present figures. .That these figures, are going to be multiplied without much difficulty is. taken for granted because the British already claim' to be the foremost European country in regard to refuse utilisation —Britain started way back in 1870. More recently, before the war, when Germany intensified its own. waste utilisation campaign, municipalities were urged to study British methods.. It felt that there is considerable hidden wealth in the grates of British hogses.. It is known that 2,000,000 tons of cinders are thrown into the garbage can each year. In the future householders will be urged to use “ last night’s cinders ” instead of throwing them away or making cinder paths in the garden. OTHER SAVINGS CITED. Under peace-time circumstances between 1,500,000 and 2,000.000 ton* of industrially valuable material is taken out of household garbage i»y Britain's 70 special separation plans. One city, Birmingham, makes £35,000 annually from its separation plant. In peacetime, too, 20,000 tons of bone and raw material of the big British glue industry is found in asli cans. In the future householders are being asked to keep their bones separate, so as to lessen the cost of collection and separation and increase the amount available. One of the most important parts of the campaign is the saving of food scraps for pig iproduction. Here there is little evidence to go on for assessing the results, but looking to Germany experts find that by utilising household food waste Hamburg has been able to increase its pig population by 10,000. Fish waste is another valuable material for cattle food, and it is hoped that every fish shop in the country will have a special daily waste collection, which is what already happens in London.