Abstract
In an attempt to construct a new agenda for waste management, this
thesis explores the importance of the definition of waste and its impact
on waste management, and the role of ownership in waste management. It is
recognised that present legal waste definitions are ambiguous and do not
really give an insight into the concept of waste. Moreover, despite its
explicit wish of waste prevention, when according to present legislation a
thing is assigned the label of a waste, it is going to be treated like
waste, implicitly legislation thus amasses waste. The philosophical
ramifications inherent in such definitions mean that they are not capable
of constructing a system that, by its very nature, results in a
sustainable waste management system. It is also a fact that, while there
are numerous practices as to how to deal with a particular type of waste,
there is no theory of waste management. In this thesis, waste as a concept
is analysed from the point of view of why and when waste is created. Using
the PSSP language, waste is classified based on the Purpose and
Performance attributes. New, dynamic definitions for waste and waste
management are offered, which explain why waste is created and
intrinsically offer a solution to how the problem could be solved.
Additional waste-related concepts are introduced, which are thought to
have great potential for improvement on waste regulation. The concept of
ownership is explained as rights and responsibilities of waste
creators/owners: it is thus crucial to raising awareness about waste.
Ownership in itself often dictates which waste management options are
preferentially adopted by a given community. The role of legislation in
producing monitoring systems for the transfer of ownership as well as
abandonment of ownership is analysed. To avoid obstacles to resource
conservation due to materials being considered waste, a definition for
non-waste is introduced. The new agenda for waste management thus focuses
upon the development of more appropriate, sustainable definitions so that
what is now commonly perceived as being waste will in fact be increasingly
seen as resource-rich, 'non-waste'. The role of waste management is
explained as control of all waste-related activities, with the aim of
preventing, minimising or utilising waste. The need for a theory of waste
management is explained, and the first building blocks of the theory are
proposed. This thesis is offered as the first step toward scientification
of waste management.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:oulo.fi/oai:oulu.fi:isbn951-42-6821-0 |
| Date | 25 September 2002 |
| Creators | Pongrácz, E. (Eva) |
| Publisher | University of Oulu |
| Source Sets | University of Oulu |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess, © University of Oulu, 2002 |
| Relation | info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/pissn/0355-3213, info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/eissn/1796-2226 |
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