Continuous development of the reclamation of waste problem has been the policy of the Liverpool civic authorities. Satisfied with the pecuniary and other results attending their initial efforts the City Engineer installed an inexpensive and complete plant working upon the Scott system, described in another chapter, for the full reclamation of the material contained in the city refuse. It was laid down at the central depot primarily to treat the meat, fish, and other organic offal, increasing quantities of which were forthcoming. The plant in question comprises a digester, dryer, vacuum pump, disintegrator and fat tanks. Electric drive is employed throughout, the necessary power being drawn from the municipal generating station. The digester, made of steel, 7 feet long by 3 feet in diameter, is of sufficient capacity to receive one ton of refuse at a time, and works at a pressure of 60 lb. It is charged from the top and emptied from the bottom. It works upon the jacket principle, and the necessary steam may be admitted both at the top and bottom as desired. Top and bottom cocks are fitted for drawing off all fatty and oily liquid for the fat tanks, and also to draw off the liquor. About four hours are required to treat the charge. The vacuum dryer is a drum, 4 feet 6 inches deep by 5 feet in diameter, and is also able to receive a charge of one ton. Top and bottom facilities, for charging and emptying respectively, are provided. Within the vessel rotating blades are disposed to keep the contents in agitation during treatment, these blades making about 25 revolutions per minute. All foul gases arising during the process are drawn off by a vacuum pump, and are led to the furnaces to be consumed, thereby being rendered innocuous before escaping into the atmosphere. The disintegrator is a cast-iron cylinder provided with a continuous automatic feed. Within the vessel are set a number of steel arms which run at a very high speed--about 2,500 revolutions per minute--which break up and thoroughly disintegrate the refuse introduced until it is able to pass through the meshes of the screen placed at the bottom of the machine. The process is very simple. The refuse is dumped into the digester which, upon being filled, is sealed. Steam is turned on, and the resultant cooking releases all the oleaginous constituents of the contents, which are floated off through the cock to be led to the fat-recovery tanks. The cooking is continued until the raw waste has shed every drop of recoverable oil and grease. The digester is then emptied, pressed, and the cooked material passed to the dryer to be dried, thence to the disintegrator to be pulverized or ground to the required degree of fineness.