Recycling and the Politics of Urban Waste

160 Pages·1994·13.148 MB·English

by  Matthew Gandy

R E C Y C L I N G and
the POLITICS of
U R B A N W A S T E
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R E C Y C L I NG and
the P O L I T I CS of
U R B AN W A S TE
Matthew Gandy
First published by Earthscan in the UK and USA in 1994
For a full list of publications please contact:
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Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Earthscan
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Earthscan is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright © Matthew Gandy, 1994
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised
in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter
invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or
retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notices
Practitioners and researchers must always rely on their own experience and knowledge
in evaluating and using any information, methods, compounds, or experiments described
herein. In using such information or methods they should be mindful of their own safety
and the safety of others, including parties for whom they have a professional responsibility.
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only
for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
ISBN 978-1-85383-168-3 (pbk)
Typeset by PCS Mapping & DTP, Newcastle
Cover design by Lucy Jenkins
Cover photograph shows hand-picking of refuse, Cooksons Dust Yard,
Tinworth St, Vauxhall, 1904.
© Greater London Photo Library
Contents
List of illustrations vii
Glossary ix
Acknowledgements χ
Introduction 1
1 The management of municipal waste 4
The collection of municipal waste 5
Waste disposal by landfill 6
Waste disposal by incineration 8
The demunicipalization of waste management 11
2 Recycling in perspective 14
The diverse rationale for recycling 14
The hierarchy of recycling options 18
The recycling of post-consumer waste 21
The control of packaging waste 25
Public participation and recycling 29
The secondary materials market 30
The economic viability of recycling 33
Recycling and 'market failure' 33
3 London 38
The historical development of waste management for London 38
Radical waste management under the GLC in the 1980s 45
The abolition of the GLC Public Health Engineering Department 46
The post-war collapse of paper recycling 51
The rise of the 'bring' system for the recycling of glass 54
The underlying barriers to recycling in London 56
Market-based recycling policy 59
The demunicipalization of waste management in London 62
The future of landfill 65
The re-emergence of incineration 66
Conclusion 68
4 New York 70
The historical development of waste management for New York 70
The impact of the New York State bottle bill 77
Local Law 19 and kerbside recycling 78
Conflict and uncertainty over the future 84
Conclusion 88
vi Recycling and the politics of urban waste
5 Hamburg 90
The historical development of waste management for Hamburg 90
The contemporary pattern of municipal waste management 93
The recycling of putrescible kitchen and garden waste 96
The politics of waste management in Hamburg 101
The 1991 packaging ordinance 105
Conclusion 110
6 Conclusion 111
The limits to comprehensive post-consumer recycling 112
The need for waste reduction 113
The market-led incineration path 114
Conclusion 115
Notes and references 117
Further reading 140
Index 144
List of illustrations
FIGURES
1.1 Municipal waste management in a developed economy 5
1.2 Total waste production in the UK 6
1.3 The average composition of household waste in developed 7
economies
1.4 Expenditure on municipal waste collection and disposal 12
in the UK
2.1 The environmental impact of different components of 15
the waste stream
2.2 The hierarchy of recycling options 20
2.3 The price of waste paper and board in the UK, 1985-91 32
3.1 The London County Council and Metropolitan Boroughs, 40
1889
3.2 The production of electricity from municipal waste by the 41
Metropolitan Boroughs in 1904
3.3 The changing composition of household waste in London 42
3.4 The new London Borough and GLC boundaries in 1965 43
3.5 The level of recycling in the London Boroughs, 1989-90 49
3.6 The range of materials recycled in London, 1989-90 50
3.7 Waste paper collections by the London Boroughs in 1966-7 51
3.8 Glass collected in the London Boroughs, 1980-90 55
3.9 The location of new incineration plants for municipal waste 68
4.1 The five Boroughs, New York City 71
4.2 New York City landfill sites 76
4.3 The East Harlem materials reclamation facility 80
4.4 New York City's municipal incinerators (existing and 86
proposed)
5.1 The administrative boundaries for the city of Hamburg 91
5.2 The location of incineration plants and landfill sites for 94
Hamburg's municipal waste
5.3 Recycling centres in Hamburg 97
5.4 The extent of potential composting by households as part 98
of the Eigenkompostierung programme
5.5 The Grüne Punkt system for packaging waste 107
viii Recycling and the politics of urban waste
TABLES
1.1 Emissions standards in Europe for waste incinerators 9
1.2 Municipal waste incineration in selected developed 10
economies
2.1 Environmental benefits derived from substituting 16
secondary materials for virgin resources
2.2 The universal production matrix 17
2.3 A comparison of different organizational approaches to 22
materials recycling
2.4 Market-based and regulatory approaches to recycling policy 37
3.1 The pattern of glass consumption and glass recycling in 56
the UK
3.2 Problems experienced with the operation of bottle banks 57
in London
3.3 The perceived barriers to recycling in the London Boroughs 58
3.4 Correlation analysis of levels of recycling in London, 1989-90 60
4.1 Projected air pollution emissions from the proposed 87
Brooklyn Navy Yard incineration plant
5.1 Comparative costs of waste management options 100
in Hamburg
5.2 Elections to the Hamburg Senate, 1974-91 102
Glossary
ΑΡΜΕ European Plastics Manufacturers Association
BUND Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland
CCT Compulsory Competitive Tendering
CDU Christliche Demokratische Union
DSD Duale System Deutschland
ERRA European Recovery and Recycling Association
FDP Freie Demokratische Partei
FRAPNA Rhône­Alpes Nature Protection Federation
GAL Grüne Alternative Liste
HDPE High­density polyethylene
HEW Hamburger Electricitätswerke
INCPEN Industrial Council on Packaging and the Environment
IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
LAWDC Local Authority Waste Disposal Company
LB­HSR Landesbetrieb Hamburger Stradtreinigung
MBI Market­based policy instruments
NFFO Non Fossil Fuel Obligation
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
ÖTV Öffentlicher Dienste, Transport und Verkehr
PET Polyethylene terephthalate
PVC Polyvinyl chloride
SELCHP South East London Combined Heat and Power Ltd
SELWDG South East London Waste Disposal Group
SPD Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands
VGK Verwertungsgesellschaft für gebrauchte KunstoffVerpackungen
VKR VEBA Kraftwerke Ruhr
WALHI Indonesian Forum for the Environment