Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
Wasting the Nation.indd - Groundwork
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Chapter 7: The question of <strong>the</strong> futureGreening and <strong>the</strong> cityThere are a host of good ideas and technologies for <strong>the</strong> greening of waste. They includemethods of recycling and approaches to design. They are elaborated in <strong>the</strong> principlesof life cycle management and of ‘natural’ cycle production. Many of <strong>the</strong>se ideas areessential for a long term project of creating economies which do not waste <strong>the</strong> earth.Thus far, however, cleaning up in <strong>the</strong> rich world – or <strong>the</strong> consumption city – amountsto displacing waste to <strong>the</strong> poor world. Waste involves risk and <strong>the</strong> distribution ofrisk is <strong>the</strong>n a political question. It requires choices and, as philosopher Slavoj Zizekcomments, “<strong>the</strong> powerful do <strong>the</strong> choosing, while o<strong>the</strong>rs do <strong>the</strong> risking” 106 [2008]. Thisdisplacement of waste and risk does not address <strong>the</strong> environmental issue because itdoes not address <strong>the</strong> human issue – that is <strong>the</strong> relation of power between people. Wasteremains a marker of class and power.Prior to industrialisation, and particularly <strong>the</strong> development of chemicals, <strong>the</strong> mostdangerous waste was human excrement. In principle, all waste materials could bereintegrated into <strong>the</strong> soil. Waste now presents a very different profile: many materialsdo not bio-degrade and, as waste, are contaminated by toxics; <strong>the</strong> volume of toxicwaste, particularly from production, is simply staggering.It is in this context that environmental justice organisations call for <strong>the</strong> eliminationof waste. This implies: reduced consumption by <strong>the</strong> rich within a more equal world;and a transformation of technologies, for example, eliminating built-in obsolescenceand toxic production; and <strong>the</strong> recycling of goods and materials that can no longer bemended.Technologies are not neutral. They are both products and embodiments of powerrelations. The incinerator, <strong>the</strong> sanitary landfill, <strong>the</strong> waste compactor truck, all embody<strong>the</strong> power that <strong>the</strong> institutions of state and capital as well as richer consumers havein relation to waste. This includes <strong>the</strong> specific interest groups such as waste engineerswho need to protect <strong>the</strong>ir markets as well as <strong>the</strong> more general interest that capitalhas in externalising costs. And <strong>the</strong>se are investments that <strong>the</strong>n demand more waste.O<strong>the</strong>rwise <strong>the</strong>y end up as devalued stranded assets.106 Zizek originally made this comment in relation to Enron where <strong>the</strong> bosses who chose <strong>the</strong> risks could get<strong>the</strong>ir money out while employees lost <strong>the</strong>ir jobs as well as <strong>the</strong> money <strong>the</strong>y had been persuaded to invest in <strong>the</strong>corporation. The same scenario is repeated with <strong>the</strong> financial melt-down as <strong>the</strong> managers who took <strong>the</strong> risksdepart with golden handshakes while <strong>the</strong> costs of <strong>the</strong>ir choices are redistributed to o<strong>the</strong>rs.<strong>Wasting</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Nation</strong> - groundWork - 183 -