Bureau Brief—Trash, Recycling, and Yard Waste Removal

From 1872 to 1932, trash removal in Worcester was the responsibility of over 8,000 pigs eating 10 tons of trash per day at the nation’s largest municipal piggery. Smell complaints ultimately forced the city to shut down the piggery and build an incinerator. Since then, population increases and changing consumption habits have led to more garbage and different disposal challenges, but the citizenry is still complaining about rubbish. This brief will examine Worcester’s current trash and recycling programs and analyze the alternatives to a pigsty.