# "A COMMUNITY PROBLEM" 1950s TRASH COLLECTION & WASTE MANAGEMENT FILM CATERPILLAR INC. 52404

“A Community Problem” is a rarely seen 1950s-era film by Caterpillar Inc. covering the sanitation industry. In an era before Americans produced anywhere near as much trash as today and when the word recycling was not widely used, this film seems slightly innocent, but it presents the problems of waste management with a great deal of clarity and even shows recycling in action. We watch as African American garbagemen empty trash cans into the back of a garbage truck and taken to a dump (mark 00:55), used as feed for hogs, or incinerated. Efficient garbage collection is common, but proper disposal remains a key community challenge. Methods like mechanical sewer disposal, hog feeding, incineration, open dumping, and sanitary landfills vary in effectiveness and impact. Mechanical disposal handles organic waste but leaves other materials, while hog feeding poses health risks. Incineration is costly and limited in capacity, and open dumps create serious health and environmental problems. Sanitary landfills—where waste is buried, compacted, and covered—are the most effective and economical solution for most communities. They reduce nuisances like odors, pests, and disease, reclaim land for community use, and can operate year-round with appropriate equipment. Though requiring additional land, landfills offer significant public health and environmental benefits, making responsible refuse disposal essential for healthy, progressive communities. 0:00 — Efficient garbage collection is…

- Kind: Film
- Genres: Industrial and advertising
- Archive: [Internet Archive](https://archive.org/details/52404ACommunityProblem)
- Licence or status: none stated by the archive
- Who can watch: Tweens profiles and older (the archive gives no rating; placed by Invisible Network from its collection and subjects)

[Watch now](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/watch/archive/ia/52404ACommunityProblem?play=1)