No collection made from stores, hotels, etc.
Not more than 10 bushels collected from any one place in a week.
Collected by 9 contractors, one for each district. Steam ashes collected by private collectors.
Eleven cities report that the number of cubic yards of ashes and rubbish collected a year per capita served was from .46 to 1.72, the average being .89. Four other cities report that the number of cubic yards of ashes only collected a year per capita served was 1.016. The lowest was .73 and the highest 1.33.
An effort to compare the unit cost of collection and disposal in one city with that in another will prove to be most unsatisfactory for the reason that local conditions make necessary different methods, length of haul and systems, and these affect the cost of operation. Also, there are very few cities which keep any accurate and detailed cost data.
Reports from thirteen cities which collect ashes and rubbish by municipal forces show that the average cost of collection and disposal for 1916 was $0.4018 per cubic yard, the highest being $.72, and the lowest $.1025. Five other cities report that the average cost of collecting and disposing of ashes only was $.5596 per cubic yard.
The cost depends upon the cost of loading and the cost of haul.
GARBAGE COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL SYSTEMS AND PRACTICES IN AMERICAN CITIES—FACTORS WHICH AFFECT THE COST— OPINIONS OF EXPERTS—COST DATA
Local conditions are so variable that the problem of collecting and disposing of garbage is one of the most complex with which city officials have to deal. The results obtained by one city cannot in detail be applied to another city, although there are many characteristics common to all. Each city must study its conditions and then apply general principles with such modifications as its peculiarities make necessary.
The garbage problem divides itself into two natural divisions:
1. Collection, including house treatment and haul.
The two are so closely related that the cost of different systems should be compared on the basis of combined cost of collection and final disposal. These two divisions may be subdivided as follows:
(a) Combined (garbage, rubbish and ashes).
There are two types of garbage collection systems—the separate and the combined. Before deciding which is the better adapted to local conditions the method of disposal of all municipal waste—rubbish, ashes, dead animals, street sweepings and stable manure—must be considered. A further study should be made of the five combinations which have been adopted by American cities and which are outlined in the chapter on ash and rubbish collection. When garbage is collected separately, the method of disposing of it is by the reduction process, incineration or feeding to hogs. If it is collected with rubbish the two wastes must be incinerated. If ashes, rubbish and garbage are collected together the wastes are either dumped or incinerated.