The “Garbological Mission” of Kharkiv’s Municipal Self-Government in the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries

Abstract

The article analyzes the evolution of waste disposal practices in the activities of Kharkiv’s municipal self-government. At the end of the 19th century, keeping the urban space clean was still primarily the responsibility of homeowners. The city government issued regulatory decrees and the police monitored their implementation. For their part, homeowners hired private nightmen to remove garbage to dumps. The study clarifies the procedure for organizing the solid waste processing cycle. During this period, rag and bone collectors were important agents of waste utilization. Companies of these peculiar professionals sorted garbage and prepared it for further processing. At the turn of the 20th century, active industrial development and urbanization led to the devaluation of the secondary materials market and the worsening of the sanitary and epidemiological conditions in the city. The article delves into the details of the formation of the new garbological strategy of the municipal self-government and traces the changes in how members of the city council and engineers viewed the development of this industry. The city authorities revised their approach to keeping Kharkiv’s environment in order. New special departments inspected the condition and cleanliness of streets, sidewalks, squares, and sewers. The first significant technological component of the waste disposal infrastructure was a water supply system. The development of this network allowed the municipal government to begin creating a closed cycle of liquid waste filtration. Meanwhile, the construction of a sewer system did not solve all the problems of cleaning up Kharkiv. In the 1910s, the city authorities set up regular municipal solid waste caravans. During this period, a waste utilization plant was opened, not only contributing to the liberation of the city from animal waste, but also doing anti-epidemic and anti-epizootic work. The author concludes that during the period under consideration Kharkiv’s authorities addressed the new challenge to the community by implementing modern garbological projects and waste disposal methods.