Municipal Refuse Disposal: An Investigation

For a number of years the disposal of municipal refuse in the Borough of Richmond, New York City, has been the subject of much concern to responsible authorities. The first attempt to deal systematically with solid organic waste was made in 1895, when the former Village of New Brighton erected a Brownlee crematory, and collected garbage separated from other refuse. In 1898, the general Department of Street Cleaning introduced the separation system throughout the Borough of Richmond, and ashes, rubbish, and street sweepings were used for filling sunken lots, while garbage within economical hauling distance of a Dixon crematory (erected in 1899) was destroyed, the remainder being mixed with ashes, etc., and dumped on isolated properties. In 1902, when the city charter was amended, the collection and disposal of refuse, with other street-cleaning work, came under the control of the Borough President.