The Waste of the World
Consumption, Economies and the Making of the Global Waste Problem
By Nicky Gregson
Published
May 9, 2023Page count
254 pagesISBN
978-1529232448Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
May 9, 2023Page count
254 pagesISBN
978-1529232431Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
May 9, 2023Page count
254 pagesISBN
978-1529232455Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University PressPublished
May 9, 2023Page count
254 pagesISBN
978-1529232455Dimensions
234 x 156 mmImprint
Bristol University Press
The Waste of the World
Despite frequent claims that waste is being reduced, consumer-reliant economies, everyday consumption and the waste industry continue to produce and demand more waste.
Combining a lucid style with robust empirical and theoretical research, this book examines the root causes of the global waste problem, rather than simply the symptoms. It challenges existing waste policies, highlighting what needs to change if we are to get serious in tackling this global problem. It concludes with policy implications for shifting waste from an ‘end-of-pipe’ concern to being at the heart of the debate over decarbonization.
"This book doesn’t end on a recipe for solutions; it does something much more important. It identifies three major challenges in the form of research questions, with the answers to these questions forming the beginnings of solutions that are appropriately scaled to the problems of waste writ large." Discard Studies
"Providing a sweeping and detailed assessment of the global waste problem, this book speaks brilliantly to multiple audiences - from everyday consumers, to policymakers, to CEOs, activists and academics." Josh Lepawsky, Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador
“Nicky Gregson persuasively argues that we need to reorient our understanding away from consumer responsibility to consumption as a global set of practices that structure our relations to the world.” Myra Hird, Queen’s University and Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada
Nicky Gregson is Emerita Professor in Human Geography at Durham University.
1. The Global Waste Problem and How to Think About It: Or, How to Understand the ‘Too Much Waste’ Problem
2. Discard, Social Order and Social Life: Or, Discard is Foundational to Understanding Waste
3. Consumption, Consumer Practices and Consumer Discard: Or, How Consumer Discard Relates to Economies
4. Conduits, Value Regimes and Valuation: Or, Following Consumers’ Discarded Things
5. Recommodifying Discard: Or, the Challenges of Turning Discard into an Economic Good
6. Waste, Money and Finance: Or, How Turning Discard into Waste Turns Waste into an Energy Resource and an Asset
7. Future Directions: Or, Rewiring Waste through the Three Ds (Decarbonization, Digital and Discard)
