Hazardous Waste Stickers and Waste Decals by HHH Incorporated

History of Decals in the Waste Industry

Have you ever wondered where and when decals originated in the waste industry?

In July of 1959, Harry E. Howisen interviewed with a company that today is WhiteCo Industries. After being hired on the spot as a sales representative, less than a month later Harry became the first person to sell stickers to cartage companies and haulers around Chicago.

It took time for the idea of using decals on waste equipment to gain steam because the regulatory environment of the late 1950's was different than it is today.  Back then, haulers were not required to post safety notices on trucks or containers so the use of decals by haulers was limited to a company's name and logo. In addition, at that time most hauling and cartage companies already hired painters to stencil company names onto their waste equipment so a hauler's openness to switching to decals was greatly influenced by the hauler's relationship with the painter.

However, the tipping point for switching to decals from stenciling occured in 1963 when container theft became problematic as upstart haulers moved into established urban markets and stole containers when they started hauling a customer. While driving to a sales call, Harry saw a container that had been previously decaled with a South Chicago Disposal Logo being used by an upstart hauler.  The container had been repainted and the decal had been scraped off, but because South Chicago Disposal used decals on their containers, the sun had baked the adhesive of the decal onto the container surface so that in sunlight the words South Chicago Disposal could still be read on the surface of the container.

Harry took a Polaroid picture of the container and gave the picture to the Association (what today has evolved into the National Waste and Recycling Association). The Association presented the evidence in Court on behalf of South Chicago Disposal and based on the photographic evidence, the judge ruled that the container was stolen and the container was returned to South Chicago Disposal.  

Word of mouth quickly spread about Harry's decals and of the superiority of decals over stenciling in protecting equipment. From that point forward Harry’s company grew to become the trusted supplier of waste decals, recycling decals, container decals, garbage truck decals, rolloff decals and portable toilet decals in the Midwest.  Today, H.H.H. Incorporated services hauling companies and municipalities throughout North America and through our customers we have had the privilege of marking equipment on all 7 continents of earth. So what happened to Harry ... well, if you want to talk with or buy from the founder of H.H.H. Incorporated, Harry Sr. is entering his 64th year of waste industry service in 2023.