A Popular Science article entitled "Out of the Garbage Pail and into the Fire" (February 1919) by Joseph Brinker exploded any idea I had that waste-to-energy plants are a fairly new concept. It's about an experimental plant designed by E. L. Culver of Chicago. He used a mixture of garbage, coal dust and tar to produce 2 lb. bricks which, when burned, gave the same, or better, heat as lignite coal. This method also did not produce the gasses that coal-fired electrical generation plants did. Culver's plant was successful and produced all of the heating units needed by Austin, Texas to power the city.
