Mandatory household waste bin (poubelle)
Cubo de basura obligatorio (poubelle)
- Date
- 1883-1884 · confidence high
- Place
- Paris, France
- Credited to
- Eugène Poubelle
- Field
- Tools
What it is
The prefect of the Seine, Eugène Poubelle, ordered in 1884 that every Paris building have lidded waste bins and that glass, crockery and shells be separated from other waste. The name 'poubelle' stuck for the bin in French.
Poubelle did not invent the bin: the milestone is the decree of 24 November 1884 that made it compulsory, strongly opposed by the ragpickers.
What it led to
- municipal rubbish collection with standard containers
- urban hygiene and reduced epidemics
- waste sorting at source