1.

Inn 1874, the world's first mass-burn incinerator for waste disposal was built in
Nottingham, UK, using a design patented by Albert Fryer.
2. At the time, before waste-to-energy (WtE) technologies had been properly developed, the
machine went by a name that bore a negative connotation: destructor, because the main
form of waste management in much of Victorian Britain consisted of items being simply
fed into the furnace to be destroyed.
3. It may suffice to say then that the West be duly credited for the invention of the
incinerator, considering that England successfully manufactured the first such apparatus
including combustion treatment and New York adapted the model a decade later.
4. However, few realize that an ancient Asian society – one that boasted surprisingly
salubrious for such historical times – was already way ahead of the game in terms of
waste handling technology.
5. Before 2800 and 2600 BC, during the Kot Diji period, Harappa, along with other cities in
the Indus Valley, had a level of architectural planning that was unparalleled globally.
6. Not only was it laid out in a grid-like pattern to facilitate organized access to public and
private areas accordingly, it also had a highly sophisticated system of waste removal.
7. All Harappan houses were equipped with latrines, bathing houses and ergonomic sewage
drains, which emptied out into larger mains to await mass management.
8. This concept made eventual deposition and removal especially convenient since the
entire city’s rubbish could be effectively channeled into one designated area.
9. Archaeologists later discovered that the site layouts and artefacts styles throughout the
Indus regions were very similar, indicating that uniform economic and social structure
existed within these cities, thus enabling a stepped up method of rubbish clearance.
10. By the dawn of the Indus Valley Civilization (2500-1500 BC) chutes were built for the
sole purpose of collecting household trash and making for easier amassment and
occasional burning, surpassing the western ways of individually dumping unwanted items
into rivers or burying them at home.