Getting Rid of the THROWAWAY SOCIETY

Abstract

The article informs that waste managers in the U.S. have been proven powerless at controlling the rising tide of waste. Furthermore, the infrastructure designed for the waste stream of 1900 is completely unsuited to the waste stream of 2000. To address these problems, the Product Policy Institute there recommends a reassignment of responsibility. Product wastes should never enter the municipal waste system, rather they should take the responsibility of their producers from cradle to cradle under regulated programs of extended producer responsibility. Meanwhile community-generated organics should be managed in local, appropriately designed facilities that make optimal beneficial use of these materials. Not surprisingly, municipal refuse was seen as an urgent public health problem. The municipal waste can be divided into two basic categories namely products and other wastes. Products are manufactured goods and packaging--what was earlier called rubbish. Other wastes are primarily food scraps and yard trimmings plus a now small amount of inorganic wastes.