Garbage disposal story

A garbage disposal unit (also known as a waste disposal unit, garbage disposer, garburator etc.) is a device, usually electrically powered, installed under a kitchen sink between the sink’s drain and the trap. The disposal unit shreds food waste into pieces small enough—generally less than 2 mm (0.079 in) in diameter—to pass through plumbing.

History

The garbage disposal unit was invented in 1927 by John W. Hammes an architect working in Racine, Wisconsin. He applied for a patent in 1933 that was issued in 1935. set up his  company put his disposer on the market in 1940 . Hammes’ claim is disputed, as General Electric introduced a garbage disposal unit in 1935, known as the Disposal
In many cities in the United States in the 1930s and the 1940s, the municipal sewage system had regulations prohibiting placing food waste (garbage) into the system. John spent considerable effort, and was highly successful in convincing many localities to rescind these prohibitions.

Many localities in the United States prohibited the use of disposers. For many years, garbage disposers were illegal in New York City because of a perceived threat of damage to the city’s sewer system. After a 21-month study with the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, the ban was rescinded in 1997 by local law 1997/071, which amended section 24-518.1, NYC Administrative Code.

In 2008, the city of Raleigh, North Carolina attempted a ban on the replacement and installation of garbage disposers, which also extended to outlying towns sharing the city’s municipal sewage system, but rescinded the ban one month later.

Adoption In the USA

In the United States, some 50% of homes had disposal units as of 2009, compared with only 6% in the United Kingdom and 3% in Canada.

In Sweden, some municipalities encourage the installation of disposers in order to increase the production of biogas.Some local authorities in Britain subsidize the purchase of garbage disposal units in order to reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.

Rationale

Food scraps range from 10% to 20% of household waste, and are a problematic component of municipal waste, creating public health, sanitation and environmental problems at each step, beginning with internal storage and followed by truck-based collection. Burned in waste-to-energy facilities, the high water-content of food scraps means that their heating and burning consumes more energy than it generates; buried in landfills, food scraps decompose and generate methane gas, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change.

The premise behind the proper use of a disposer is to effectively regard food scraps as liquid (averaging 70% water, like human waste), and use existing infrastructure (underground sewers and wastewater treatment plants) for its management. Modern wastewater plants are effective at processing organic solids into fertilizer products (known as biosolids), with advanced facilities also capturing methane for energy production.