World of Waste: Dilemmas of Industrial Development, K. A. Gourlay, (London: Zed Books, 1992), 242 pp.
Understanding environmental problems; making effective use of technical information; of general applicability to environmental problems; written for the first party participant.
World of Waste: Dilemmas of Industrial Development is an examination of: human produced waste, its storage, and suggestions for its elimination.
World of Waste: Dilemmas of Industrial Development will be of interest to those who seek an understanding of the dilemmas posed by industrial development for the containment and reduction of human produced waste. The work is divided into three parts, addressing: waste and its producers, disposition of waste, and problems confronting those who seek to eliminate waste. The authors begin with a prologue which examines waste disposal agents and their international dealings.
The first part offers a definition of waste and notes the absence of information for assessing the hazardous effects of wastes. The author discusses, briefly, several categories of waste, including: domestic and municipal, industrial, agricultural and fish farming, nuclear, and gaseous. The second part addresses the disposition of waste. The author examines landfills, both in the US and Europe, as well as the burying of radioactive waste and the filtering of agricultural waste through earth to groundwater. Further, the dumping of wastes into inland, coastal and open ocean waters is discussed. Chapter six offers consideration of incineration as a means for the disposition of wastes. Following a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of combustion, the author examines: high temperature and mass-burn incineration, municipal incinerators and incineration at sea. The next chapter is concerned with the release of gaseous wastes into the air. The author discusses: acid rain, ozone depletion and climatic change.
The final part discusses the dilemmas of development with regard to the elimination of waste. The responses from science and technology to these dilemmas and the possible greening of industry are explored. Chapter nine begins with an examination of the toxic waste trade with a focus on the North Sea and acid rain in Europe. The final chapter examines the dilemmas of development which include: human perceptions and attitudes, concepts of growth, and ideologies. The text is followed, usefully, by a list of acronyms and abbreviations.
World of Waste: Dilemmas of Industrial Development is a systematic examination of human produced waste and its disposition and will serve as a foundation for the reader who wishes to pursue the topic in greater depth.
T. A. O'Lonergan
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