The Institution and People who Reshaped Waste and Recycling

In parallel, the Centenary History publication also charts the first three phases of the Institution and the leading characters who shaped its evolution from the time it was set up in Sheffield on 25 June 1898.1908 logo

1898 to 1908 - the Association of Cleansing Superintendents of Great Britain
The origins of the Institution in local authority waste and cleansing managers from Scotland and Northern England, and the cities which saw the most rapid population growth following industrialisation

1908 to 1928 - the Institute of Cleansing Superintendents Expanded to include waste and cleansing managers from cities and towns across Britain

1928 to 1972 - the Institute of Public Cleansing from, whose members until the 1960s were all men, and almost exclusively local authority men at that, but with increasing links and affiliations from equipment manufacturers and the new breed of private waste companies

1970s onwards - The Institute of Solid Wastes Management , quickly renamed the Institute of Wastes Management , which expanded coverage to all waste streams, and the diversity and complexity of hundreds of different private sector as well as public sector organisations.

Commitment to professionalism across the industry, and to the full sharing of knowledge in the pursuit of excellence in Britain and overseas

Recognition that waste means resource and recovery opportunities, along with the need to tackle impacts on people and the environment

Need for continuous training and development for staff at all levels within the industry

Effective resourcing of services to achieve solutions that deliver both high quality and minimum environmental impacts. As one of the founders James Jackson aptly put it `nothing is too good for cleansing`.

Many `new` ideas also look remarkably similar to new ideas from previous decades, and there is much that we can learn and recycle from the past. There are also lessons from what did not work well. For as the 1998 history concluded, borrowing from philosopher George Santayana , those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to make the same mistakes all over again.