Bin

With the industrial revolution that started in the 18th century, problems of inadequate waste management in cities escalated dramatically. Industrial development has exacerbated the problem of waste disposal on an unprecedented scale. The industrialisation launched at that time led to a significant increase in the amount of waste, generated not only by inhabitants, but also by factories and manufacturing plants. As a result, city authorities implemented relatively rational and efficient waste disposal policies, establishing both the first incineration plants and waste containers. This was also the case in pre-war Szczecin, where in 1934 waste management was taken over by a municipal enterprise, which placed nearly 13,000 waste containers of various sizes around the city. All of the containers were made by the Schmidt & Mellmer company in Weidenau, a suburb of Siegen in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, which since 1924 has been run by Szczecin-born Heinrich Erhard. As a result of these actions, the capital of the former Pomeranian Province was one of the leaders in modern waste disposal.

Anna Lew-Machniak