Normal Waste: Confronting This Unavoidable Matter in the Technoscientific and Consumer Society

If we think about the topic of waste today we have to be aware of its plastic and ambiguous nature, rejecting both the economic view, which sees it as lost and as a negative value, and the socio-cultural view, which associates it merely with fear and repugnance. “Normal waste” summarizes in a two-word formula the idea that waste is a normal condition of a society of widespread production and consumption, something central and unavoidable that spawned social, cultural, economic and technical responses, which in turn shape our history. But because this is a problem which is widespread, permanent and global, with environmental and public health effects on current and future generations, intervention in this field has to be guided by a combination of responsible use of resources, sustainable patterns of production, consumption and development, and the involvement of citizen-consumers. From these foundations I seek to show, first, that waste as a “problem” is the product of an order of production and consumption increasingly shaped by industrialization and urbanization. This was accompanied by a cultural process of sensitivities, mentalities and philosophical and medical convictions, which encouraged the sanitizing of public spaces, greater individuality, the refinement of manners and of the sense of smell. Secondly, I see waste as an environmental issue and as a factor which encourages the search for ingenious technological developments, stimulates international political measures, and involves multiple networks and institutions. The belief that the “problem” of waste can be only fixed technically is pure fantasy. Facing up to the problem effectively will also depend on co-ordinated political approaches and patterns of development which achieve harmonious combinations of the social, the economic and the political. Finally, I analyse waste in the context of its commodification as waste management activities are also significant business opportunities.