Title: Plastic Waste Trade A New Colonialist Means of Pollution Transfer
Editor: Sedat Gündoğdu
Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland
Year: 2024
About the Book: This comprehensive volume takes a holistic view of the international waste trade, arguing that the transfer of plastic waste from the Global North to the Global South constitutes a new form of colonialism in the 21st century. The book explores the history of plastic waste trade, from toxic waste disasters of the 1970s and 1980s to the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Other Disposals (1989) and China’s 2018 “National Sword” policy that effectively banned plastic waste imports. The authors analyze both legal and illegal plastic waste trade, highlighting the devastating impacts on ecosystems, workers, and communities in receiving countries. They emphasize how these countries are often less equipped to handle waste compared to exporting nations. The final section presents case studies from countries on the receiving end of the plastic waste trade, critiquing the practice from sociological and environmental justice perspectives.
Key Points:
- Examines how the waste trade, particularly plastic waste trade, has become a form of colonialist pollution transfer.
- Investigates the historical background of plastic waste trade from a global perspective.
- Exposes the environmental and social impacts of legal and illegal plastic waste trade.
- Evaluates the neocolonial effects of plastic waste exports on receiving countries.
Link: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-51358-9