[Merrill]

I went to a one-room schoolhouse in the US. Every month or so, we would have a school meeting where kids were elected to do various jobs like sweeping the room, taking out and burning the trash, washing the blackboards, cleaning erasers, pumping and bringing in water, etc.

[Waterluvian]

Burning the trash?

[Merrill]

The trash was mainly wastepaper, lunch bags, waxed paper and possibly a few food scraps such as apple cores, orange rinds, etc. from lunches each student brought. There would have been minimal plastic or aluminum packaging at the time. One of the older students would bring the wastebasket to a 50-gallon drum well away from the school building and light the contents with ordinary kitchen matches. It was a rural area, and that was how farm families disposed of combustible waste.

[pjscott]

It’s not a great way of disposing of trash, if you don’t want to inhale nasty fumes, but it has a long and widespread history.

[meragrin_]

A little bit more detail is needed to understand the question. I find it hard to believe you are unaware that people burn trash.

[ProxCoques]

I've never seen anyone burn domestic trash. Like in their back garden or something? Is that a thing?

[breckenedge]

Yes, though it’s generally banned in populated areas. Often where there are no city trash services.