▁the ▁early ▁ 1 9 th ▁century ▁to ▁at ▁least ▁ 1 9 1 4 . ▁ ▁Indust rial ization ▁sp ur red ▁demand ▁for ▁afford able ▁materials ; ▁aside ▁from ▁ra gs , ▁f err ous ▁sc rap ▁met als ▁were ▁cov et ed ▁as ▁they ▁were ▁che aper ▁to ▁ac quire ▁than ▁vir gin ▁ore . ▁Rail ro ads ▁both ▁purchased ▁and ▁sold ▁sc rap ▁metal ▁in ▁the ▁ 1 9 th ▁century , ▁and ▁the ▁growing ▁steel ▁and ▁autom obile ▁indust ries ▁purchased ▁sc rap ▁in ▁the ▁early ▁ 2 0 th ▁century . ▁Many ▁secondary ▁goods ▁were ▁collected , ▁processed ▁and ▁sold ▁by ▁ped d lers ▁who ▁sc oured ▁d umps ▁and ▁city ▁streets ▁for ▁disc arded ▁mach in ery , ▁p ots , ▁p ans , ▁and ▁other ▁sources ▁of ▁metal . ▁By ▁World ▁War ▁I , ▁thousands ▁of ▁such ▁ped d lers ▁ro amed ▁the ▁streets ▁of ▁American ▁cities , ▁taking ▁advantage ▁of ▁market ▁forces ▁to ▁rec ycle ▁post - consum er ▁materials ▁back ▁into ▁industrial ▁production . ▁ ▁B ever age ▁bott les ▁were ▁rec yc led ▁with ▁a ▁ref und able ▁depos it ▁at ▁some ▁drink ▁manufact ur ers ▁in ▁Great ▁Britain ▁and ▁Ireland ▁around ▁ 1 8 0 0 , ▁not ably ▁Schwe pp es . ▁An ▁official ▁rec y cling ▁system ▁with ▁ref und able ▁depos its ▁was ▁established ▁in ▁Sweden ▁for ▁bott les ▁in ▁ 1 8 8 4 ▁and ▁al umin um ▁be verage ▁can s ▁in ▁ 1 9 8