The history of aluminum not only illustrates how upcycling has helped producers increase profitability since the 1950s by turning low value materials into high value products; it also shows how the transformation processes involved in a circular system of reuse can challenge its environmental sustainability.
Society’s approach to environmental protection has so far relied on certain prevailing, but perhaps specious, beliefs—that we cannot impact the environment positively, or that environmental protection is incompatible with economic growth. Braungart explores how, rather than making ineffective changes to an already broken system, it would be more beneficial to rethink that system entirely.
In case studies ranging from the Early Modern secondhand trade to utopian visions of human-powered vehicles, the contributions gathered here explore the historical fortunes of bicycling and waste recycling—tracing their development over time and providing valuable context for the policy successes and failures of today.
Urban mining—reclaiming valuable metals from discarded electronic devices—has become an important economic activity in the informal sector in places such as Agbogbloshie, a slum in Accra, Ghana. This article examines the material flows linking Ghana with the rest of the world, the politics of waste recycling, and the hazards faced by those processing e-waste.
Jeremy Irons leads the viewer around the world as he explores the worst effects of the amount of waste humans produce, and what can be done about it.
This film examines life in the Chittagong ship demolition yard, where workers risk their lives for two dollars a day to provide for their families.
The UAE has appointed a company named Masdar to create the most environmentally sustainable city in the world that may serve as a model for future generations.
The Light Bulb Conspiracy uncovers how planned obsolescence shapes economy and the production of consumer goods.
Cartoneros documents the work of unemployed garbage collectors in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
