How does humanity relate to rubbish?

How does humanity relate to rubbish?


Pollution is considered as "the introduction of harmful materials in the environment” called pollutants (Boudreau 2023). They can be both natural or anthropogenic the latter being the biggest driver of pollution globally. Pollution spreads in the water, air and soil directly impacting the health and livelihood of all living things on Earth and degrading common resources. The moral and ethical question arises: why do we pollute if the consequences are proved to be highly detrimental to our lives?

Pollution is an activity that inherently promotes selfish and unethical behaviour due to the procedural steps in public waste management which allow the parties involved to transfer the responsibility towards the final discharger of waste (Rabbito 2018).

There is a need to enforce more strategic policies which address the need for collective scientific research prioritising the needs of the public as a whole rather than the values of polluting industries (Elliott 2017).


Who’s responsible for our waste?


The modern system of waste management is created in such a way that the first consumer  or who created the waste does not hold responsibility of its disposal. The ownership of the waste is delegated in each step of the chain and by doing so promoting a system where the probability of pollution becomes more and more increasing as we go down the chain. Individuals or companies who did not create the waste do not feel the same responsibility or ethical implications for correct management of the pollutants. 

As Kevin Elliott in 2016 simply summarises in one sentence “environmental pollution is an ethical issue because it causes distress that inhibits moral reasoning and promotes decision-making based in self-interest and unethical behaviour”.

However, waste should not be the responsibility of someone who moves it around or manages its disposal. It should be a collective ownership with appropriate legislation defining and placing certain obligations on the producer of waste in order to identify when your institution is acting as a waste producer (Providence 2023). 

In general, in order to resolve this ambiguous division of responsibility, countries with the highest recycling rates such as Germany, Austria or South Korea have implemented policies related to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) systems, which places the responsibility for waste management on producers as well as landfill and incineration taxes (Gray 2017). 



Better policies for a better environmental impact


Governments and international institutions play a key role in implementing the correct policies which hold individuals and companies accountable for their environmental impact such as the Waste Framework Directive in the EU (208/98/EC). By adopting more creative and efficient waste management policies we might be able to incentivise the right parties to unlock more responsible practices along the waste management hierarchy. This should be driven by higher positions in the chain to be pushed for a more responsible rubbish management through policies such as landfill taxes, deposit refund schemes or returnable packaging incentives which has been proven effective on reducing waste generated in several European countries (Wasim 2023).

Moreover, policies promoting transparency and accountability on environmental pollution along side incentives for longer-term more sustainable solutions should be complementary of punitive policies in order to help reduce the amount of economic activity that is hidden from official records (OECD 2021).

This would lead as well to a reduction of the hidden economy on environmental pollution which is created as a result of stricter regulations leading to production activities being carried out in a hidden way (Wang 2019).


In conclusion, the essay explores the challenges and opportunities of environmental policies related to waste management and explains the importance of assigning precise responsibility for each stage in order to not have a shift in liability. It also acknowledges that environmental policies can generate winners and losers, depending on the exposure and competitiveness that the private sector relates to them, and suggests some policy design options to mitigate these effects and enhance public support.



References


Diane Boudreau et al, (2023), Pollution, National Geographic, Available at: https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/pollution/

Elliott, Kevin, (2017), The Ethics of Environmental Pollution, The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics, Oxford Handbooks 

Rabbito, C. (2018), Legal and Ethical Implications of Air Pollution, Clinical Handbook of Air Pollution-Related Diseases. Springer, Cham.

Providence Amaechi, (2023), 8 Waste Management Duties and Responsibilities, EnvironmentGo!, Available at: https://environmentgo.com/waste-management-duties-and-responsibilities/

Directive 2008/98/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 November 2008 on waste and repealing certain Directives, Waste Framework Directive

Alex Gray, (2017), Germany recycles more than any other country, World Economic Forum, Available at: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/12/germany-recycles-more-than-any-other-country/

Wang, Shi (2019), Corruption, Hidden Economy and Environmental Pollution: A Spatial Econometric Analysis Based on China’s Provincial Panel Data, International journal of environmental research and public health, 16 (16), p. 2871

Malek, Wasim (2023), How have waste management policies impacted the flow of municipal waste? An empirical analysis of 14 European countries, Waste management,164, p. 84.

OECD (2021), Assessing the Economic Impacts of Environmental Policies: Evidence from a Decade of OECD Research, OECD Publishing, Paris








Commenti

Posta un commento

Post popolari in questo blog

Italy and its Protected Areas

Immagine
  Italy presents a highly diversified and complex network of protected areas which cover around 21.5% of terrestrial territory and 8.8% of marine territory (UNEP-WCMC and IUCN 2023). Nonetheless, these areas are continuously reported as lacking of appropriate financing which leads to poor management plans resulting with the inability to protect the areas from illegal activities, such as pastures, tourism or fishing (WWF Italia 2018).  During an investigation by WWF Italia in 2018 where protected areas personnel itself responded to a survey exploring the current status of Italian Protected Areas, respondents highlighted some key points of development regarding risks and opportunities (WWF Italia 2018).  First of all, the main threat for Italian Protected Areas, especially Marine territories, is identified with Climate Change as the leading problem, followed by littering, naval traffic, illegal fishing or poaching and invasion of alien species (WWF Italia 2018).  To re...
Continua a leggere

Umbrella Species as a Conservation Practice: Benefits and Limitations

Immagine
An umbrella species in the context of ecology and biodiversity is defined by the Oxford Reference as "a species of plant or animal that has a large home range and broad habitat requirements, both of which overlap with other species, so that if it is given a large enough area for its own protection the other species will also benefit" (Park 2012). They represent a shortcut for the maintenance of biodiversity considering the consistent limitations on finance, knowledge and time for action (Roberge 2004). However, the adoption of umbrella species as conservation practice is equivocal based on the empirical data of its effectiveness (Thornton 2016).  This tool is useful in determining the minimum size for conservation areas, selecting the sites to be included in reserve networks and setting minimum standards for composition and processes of ecosystems (Roberge 2004).  When charismatic umbrella species are selected, they can also become a representative surrogate for sympatric spe...
Continua a leggere

Just Transitions for Energy and Climate

Immagine
Even though the line of energy development is often considered a linear conventional transition towards an increasingly more technological future, this worldview omits the factors of uncertainty , human behaviour, cultural differences and diverse societal norms all together which sometimes lead to a more complex relationship between prosperity and sustainability (Jasanoff 2018). Moreover, the identification of self bias by academic communities with regard to dynamic or uncertain scientific aspects in nowadays model making, such as diverse background, values and beliefs, would allow a more perceptive and aware utilization and/or development of new and/or existing technologies (Jasanoff 2018). "That reflexivity could become the doorway to a Second Enlightenment, a stage of self-awareness in which we deploy both our knowledge and our doubts more wisely" (Jasanoff 2018). The disparity of local scales of governance along with the development efforts needed for downscaling national...
Continua a leggere