Recycling for Victory: The British Campaign to Salvage Raw Materials during the Great War

This paper examines the operations of the National Salvage Council, an organization that the British government established during the war to promote the recycling of household waste. Making extensive use of unpublished records held at the National Archives at Kew as well as contemporary publications, he argues that British officials viewed recycling not only as a means of maximizing the efficient use of resources, but also of bolstering morale by making the civilian population—particularly women who did not work outside the home—feel more connected to the war effort. Many welcomed this program, but others saw it as an unwarranted militarization of the private sphere