Paris, 1884
A city overwhelmed by waste.
Paris was a city of extraordinary ambition: building the Eiffel Tower, modernizing its sewers, hosting the world, and facing an equally extraordinary waste crisis. Refuse piled in the streets, creating a public health emergency at the heart of the world's most celebrated city.
On March 7, the Prefect of the Seine, Eugène-René Poubelle, signed a decree: every building in Paris must provide three standardized containers, one for organics, one for paper and rags, one for glass and pottery.
Eugène Poubelle invented the idea of separating waste at the source, the foundation of modern recycling. Parisians named their bins after him, and "poubelle" became the French word for trash.
Source: Wikipédia — Eugène Poubelle, Atelier Nadar
Paris streets after the 1884 decree — the first standardized bins, labeled with their building's address.
Source: lemontri.fr
