Page 66 - Materials Chemistry, Second Edition

CAT3525_C02.qxd 1/27/2005 10:58 AM Page 37
A Brief History of Waste Management 37

TABLE 2.2
Significant Milestones in MSW Generation and Management in the United States

1868 Celluloid, the first commercial synthetic plastic, is invented
1903 Corrugated paperboard containers are in commercial use
1907 First paper towels developed
1908 Paper cups replace tin cups in vending machines, in public buildings, and on trains
1913 Corrugated cardboard becomes popular as packaging
1924 Kleenex facial tissues first marketed
1930s Kimberly-Clark markets the Kotex brand disposal sanitary pad for feminine
hygiene protection
1930 Invention of nylon
1935 First beer can is manufactured
1939 Arrival of 25-cent paperback books, “cheap enough to throw away”
1944 Dow Chemical invents Styrofoam™
1949 Johnson and Johnson introduces disposable diapers to United States (invented in Sweden)
1950s In-house garbage disposals become popular. In some cities, 25-30% of
wastes are ground up
1953 Swanson introduces the TV dinner
1960 Pop-top beer cans are invented
1960 Plastic gains popularity as a packaging material
1963 Aluminum beverage cans are developed
1972 Oregon passes the first refundable deposit bottle law
1972 The Intel MCS-4-based SIM4 is the first microcomputer (but not the first personal computer)
1976 There are over 50 million microwave ovens in U.S. households
1977 The Apple ][ is the first highly successful mass-produced personal computer
1977 PETE soda bottles begin to replace glass
1981 The IBM PC is introduced
1985 Mass-marketing begins of the Swatch® watch, a disposal wristwatch
1986 Fuji introduces the disposable camera
1986 The Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island, New York, becomes the world’s largest landfill
1988 An estimated 20 million personal computers have become obsolete
2003 The disposable DVD is introduced
2004 The disposable cellular telephone is introduced

TABLE 2.3
Trends of Waste Disposal Practices in the United States, Turn of the
20th Century Compared with Current Data. Values given in Percent
Method 1899 1902 1913 1999 a
Dumped on land 70 46.5 61 —
Dumped in water 3 2.5 3 —
Incineration 16 29.5 7 15
Sanitary landfill — — 7 57
Combination of methods — 1.5 11 —
No systematic method 11 0.5 — —
No data — 19.5 11 —
Adapted from Truini, 2003; Gerlat, 1999.
a 28% recovered for recycling and composting.