Page 63 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition
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34 Waste Management Practices: Municipal, Hazardous, and Industrial
FIGURE 2.9 Waste reduction plant, Barren Island, ca. 1897.
Around the turn of the century, the average waste generated per Manhattan citizen was 160 lb
of garbage (food wastes and debris), 1230 lb of ash, and 97 lb of rubbish. Total annual waste gen-
eration was about 675 kg (1487 lb), slightly higher than today’s national average (Melosi, 1981;
Alexander, 1993). The ash fraction, from the burning of coal or wood in home furnaces, comprised
the major component. Coal-burning home furnaces remained in common use in much of the United
States until the end of World War II.
