Garbage In, Garbage Out: Solving the Problems with Long-Distance Trash Transport

Contents

Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction Everything Is Trash 1 Rationale for a Book on Trash Transport 5 Outline of the Book 6 Chapter 1 All Garbage Is Local Trash Management in the United States 11 Environmental E√ects of MSW 12 The Special Problems of Electronic Equipment 17 Federalism and MSW Disposal in the United States 19 Trash on the Move: The Rise of the Mega-Landfill 22 The Dormant Commerce Clause Question 26 Determining the Public Interest 29 Chapter 2 Waste Not, Want Not Are Americans the World’s Premier Waste Makers? 32 Does Prosperity Make Us Better Environmentalists? 33 The Relationship between AΔuence and Trash Generation 38 Background Data and Associated Uncertainties 40 Waste-Generation and Management Patterns I: International Variation 41 Waste-Generation and Management Patterns II: Historical and Projected Trends 50 vi Contents Why Europeans and the Japanese Make Less Trash Than Americans 53 ≤ Factor I: Americans as Consumer ‘‘Addicts’’ 54 ≤ Factor II: How Waste Management Policies in the EU and in Japan Discourage Trash Generation and Movement 57 Conclusions 61 Chapter 3 Costs and Benefits of Interstate Trash Transport Landfill Capacity, Schools, and Environmental Justice 64 Benefits and Burdens of Municipal Solid Waste 66 Race, Income, and Solid Waste 76 Information, Voice, and Consent 81 Lessons from the Environmental Justice Literature 89 Chapter 4 Regulatory and Legislative E√orts to Limit the Movement of Trash 91 State and Local Attempts to Limit the Flow of Trash 92 Congressional Bills to Allow Constraints on the Flow of Trash 100 Bills to Erect Interstate Barriers to the Flow of Trash 105 Trash, Pollution, Commerce, and Public Education Funding 108 Chapter 5 Solving the Genuine Problems of Long-Distance Trash Transport 112 Why Interstate Trash Transport Per Se Is Not the Problem 114 Policy Solution I: Waste Diversion and Reduction 117 Policy Solution II: Environmental Justice and the Proximity Principle 126 Taking Responsibility for Trash 131 Notes 133 Bibliography 147 Index 163 ...