This color educational film is about the problem of trash in the USA — which was known at the time as the “Garbage Explosion”. It was produced by Union Carbide in the early 1970s, and focuses on the use of garbage bags (produced by Union Carbide) as a means of collection. It also looks at sanitary landfills while urging viewers to help decrease their consumption of goods and try to protect the environment. There is no copyright date but it may date from around 1973, when a fuel crisis (referenced in the film) raised the price of plastic products including plastic bags.

Opening titles (:06-:09). Garbage dump, birds flying over a dump. Trucks drop off more garbage. Bulldozers push garbage. Kansas City, MO, they are using the bag system for trash – a girl ties her plastic trash bag and puts it out on the curb along with newspapers that are bound together for pickup. A garbage truck comes by and the workers collect the trash and toss it into the back of the garbage truck. Al Beck, Public Works Dept, talks about making the trash problem easier. He looks at bags of trash and makes sure they’re secured. Bags are placed into a garbage truck. Garland, TX, the bag system is in use there as well. A train of dumpsters together are in use as a worker tosses bags into them on a street. Bags are tossed high up and crash down into the dumpster. A larger truck comes and grabs the smaller dumpsters to dump them into itself. One machine, like a crane, picks up bags of trash and disposes them onto a conveyor belt which then shuttle them to the back of the truck. A truck smashes trash down in a landfill (:10-3:22). Mr. Beck of Kansas City talks about what makes a good landfill. A landfill having trash compacted by vehicles. Aerial shot of a landfill in Kansas City, MO and trucks on it. Madison, WI landfill, a worker from the Dept of Public Works speaks about their landfill. Buttons pressed, trash is sprayed with water, a conveyor belt with trash. Aerial shot of a landfill once cleared. A baseball game on a field. A man places newspapers into a garbage truck. Piles and piles of newspapers. Paper is compacted by a worker in a machine. Piles of compacted newspapers (3:23-6:21). Piles and piles of rubber tires in a landfill. Aerial shot of a landfill. A truck transports used tires. Dr. Norman Braton, from the University of Wisconsin, talks about what to do with the tires. Rubber is broken down. Cryogenic recycling. Trash is dumped. Trash is placed into an incinerator and burns. A truck carries away the trash after this process. Dr. John Anderson of the Union Carbide Research Center speaks. A furnace burns trash and breaks it down. Close on flame. People look over a machine (6:22-9:18). A man sits near a fountain and speaks on local trash responsibilities. The train of dumpsters, a man throws trash into them. The crane machine. Trash being bulldozed. Buttons pressed, trash is sprayed with water, a conveyor belt with trash. The incinerator flame (9:19-10:26). End credits (10:27-11:02).

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com