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History of Waste Management and the Social and Cultural Representations of Waste

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The Basic Environmental History

Part of the book series: Environmental History ((ENVHIS,volume 4))

Abstract

The history of waste mirrors that of the societies that produced it, and their relationship with the environment and the resources they mobilized. Until the industrial revolution, the management of urban excreta was predominantly linked with urban salubrity, from the Roman cloaca maxima to the Parisian motta papellardorum. The quantity of waste produced remained small and the methods for collection and discharge often unsatisfactory, which led to frequent denunciations of urban dirtiness. Neo-Hippocratic medicine, which considered the tainted environment and air to be the principal causes of urban excess mortality, prompted the implementation of new policies and management techniques in Europe to clean up the cities. In addition, the value of most urban excreta intended either for agriculture or industry increased. Thus, from about the 1770s to the 1860s, salubrity and excreta recovery went hand in hand. From the 1870s onward, the fertilizer revolution, the rapid development of coal and, later, that of the petroleum industry and the search for more convenient and plentiful materials, undermined the recycling industry. Although some cities at first tried to fight the devaluation of urban by-products, they gave up during the interwar years. What was once a source of profit became a cost to society, and, until the 1960s, the aim of waste management was to reduce this cost. The environment became the receptacle for waste. The 1960s and 1970s were marked by an environmental crisis, a growing concern for the limits of the planet and a criticism of the industrial city. In this context, waste was regarded as the symbol of the aberrations of a consumer society. The production of waste continued to grow and the sanitary accidents as a result left a deep impression. Waste policies were implemented with mixed results. Developing countries also began to suffer from this curse of developed countries.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See also Harpet (1998).

  2. 2.

    Even if the literature about the history of waste has developed since the end of the 20th century, it remains relatively scarce compared to other urban environmental history topics. See for instance, for the last two centuries: Melosi (2005), Strasser (1999), Barles (2005) and Giuntini (2006).

  3. 3.

    See for instance: Gille (2007).

  4. 4.

    In his Natural History, XXXVI.

  5. 5.

    Guillerme (1983, 1988).

  6. 6.

    Boudriot (1990).

  7. 7.

    Chevallier (1849).

  8. 8.

    Belgrand (1887).

  9. 9.

    For more precisions about Middle Ages and Renaissance, see (among others): Leguay (1999); Assainissement et salubrité publique en Europe méridionale (fin du Moyen Âge, époque moderne). 2001. Siècles—Cahiers du centre d’histoire “Espaces et cultures” 14; Magnusson (2006) and Jorgensen (2008).

  10. 10.

    Coray (1800).

  11. 11.

    Corbin (1986, 1988), Barles (1999) and Lécuyer (1986).

  12. 12.

    Boissier de Sauvages (1754) and Méphitis (1765).

  13. 13.

    Lancisi (1717).

  14. 14.

    Poussou (1992) and Kunitz (1993).

  15. 15.

    Baumes (1789).

  16. 16.

    Priestley (1774) and Lavoisier (1782).

  17. 17.

    Fortier (1975).

  18. 18.

    Wines (1985) and Tarr (1996).

  19. 19.

    Dumas (1866–1867).

  20. 20.

    von Liebig (1862), Müller (1860), Chadwick (1842) and Paulet (1853). See also: Mårald (2002), Goddard (1996) and Hamlin (2007).

  21. 21.

    André (1996), Hills (1988) and Strasser (1999), op. cit. p. 80 sq.

  22. 22.

    Turgan (1860–1885).

  23. 23.

    Strasser, op. cit. p. 85.

  24. 24.

    Esquiros (1861) and Barberet (1866–1887).

  25. 25.

    Chaptal (1819).

  26. 26.

    Payen (1859).

  27. 27.

    For more details about urban raw materials, see: Barles (2005). op. cit. About industrial use of urban by-products, see: Guillerme (2007). See also: Simmonds (1862).

  28. 28.

    Napias (1882).

  29. 29.

    Goddard and Sheail (2001).

  30. 30.

    See for instance: Melosi (2000), Vögele (1998) and Frioux (2013).

  31. 31.

    Moll and Mille (1857).

  32. 32.

    Commission des engrais (1865–1866).

  33. 33.

    Barles (2005). op. cit.

  34. 34.

    Du Mesnil (1884).

  35. 35.

    Figuier (1873). See also: André, op. cit.; Hills, op. cit.

  36. 36.

    Exposition universelle internationale de 1900 à Paris. Rapports du jury international. Introduction générale. Tome II. 3e partie: Sciences. 4e partie: Industrie. 1903. Paris: Imprimerie nationale, p. 366.

  37. 37.

    Friedel (1983).

  38. 38.

    Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers (2001). (Trad. Bensaude-Vincent and Stengers 1996).

  39. 39.

    See for instance: van Zwanenburg and Millstone (2005).

  40. 40.

    Wines, op. cit.

  41. 41.

    Matignon (1931).

  42. 42.

    Ibid.

  43. 43.

    See for instance: Crookes (1917).

  44. 44.

    Smil (2001).

  45. 45.

    Jugie (1993).

  46. 46.

    Fontaine (1903).

  47. 47.

    Enlèvement journalier par chemin de fer et conduite dans la plaine de la Crau des immondices, balayures et vidanges de la ville de Marseille. Observations sur le projet Montricher. 1886. Marseille.

  48. 48.

    Védry (1992).

  49. 49.

    Joulot (1946), see: Giuntini, op. cit., pp. 65–67, 70–71.

  50. 50.

    Courmont et al. (1932).

  51. 51.

    Joulot, op. cit., p. 82.

  52. 52.

    Melosi (2005), op. cit., p. 154, 163.

  53. 53.

    Melosi (1988).

  54. 54.

    Paris (1909).

  55. 55.

    Gallo (1994).

  56. 56.

    Quoted by Gallo, op. cit.

  57. 57.

    Organisation européenne de coopération économique (1953).

  58. 58.

    Joulot, op. cit., p. 82–83.

  59. 59.

    Organisation européenne de coopération économique, op. cit., p. 101.

  60. 60.

    Joulot, op. cit., p. 175.

  61. 61.

    Summer (1968).

  62. 62.

    But New York City continued to dump sewage sludge at sea. Melosi (2005), op. cit, pp. 181–182.

  63. 63.

    Organisation européenne de coopération économique, op. cit., p. 144.

  64. 64.

    The same occured in Italy some years before. Giuntini, op. cit., p. 70.

  65. 65.

    Joulot, op. cit, p. 53.

  66. 66.

    Houter and Stolp (1968).

  67. 67.

    Osborn (1948).

  68. 68.

    Carson (1962).

  69. 69.

    Osborn (1953).

  70. 70.

    UNESCO (1969).

  71. 71.

    Meadows et al. (1972).

  72. 72.

    Mumford (1961).

  73. 73.

    Jacobs (1961).

  74. 74.

    Wolman (1965).

  75. 75.

    Duvigneaud (1980).

  76. 76.

    Melosi (2005), op. cit., p. 206.

  77. 77.

    According to Eurostat. http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/environment/data, accessed 3 January 2014.

  78. 78.

    Levine (1982).

  79. 79.

    Sowers (1968).

  80. 80.

    Small (1971).

  81. 81.

    Guiding principles concerning the international economic aspects of environmental policies. Recommendation adopted by the OECD Council on 26th May 1972.

  82. 82.

    OECD Workshop on Waste Prevention: Toward Performance Indicators (2002).

  83. 83.

    See for instance: Ngnikam and Tanawa (2006) and UN-Habitat (2010).

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  1. UMR Géographie-Cités, Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris, France

    Sabine Barles

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  1. DEISTAF, University of Florence, Florence, Italy

    Mauro Agnoletti

  2. Political and International Sciences, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Simone Neri Serneri

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Barles, S. (2014). History of Waste Management and the Social and Cultural Representations of Waste. In: Agnoletti, M., Neri Serneri, S. (eds) The Basic Environmental History. Environmental History, vol 4. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09180-8_7

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