“Waste Wars is the Star Wars of trash, a witty and brave account of Alexander Clapp’s journey into the underbelly of modern life. You’ll meet garbage-spotting drones, journalists who register pet fish as waste brokers, and go on a hunt for the El Dorado of poison. As Clapp explains, we live in a world where our ability to create garbage has surpassed Earth’s ability to generate life. The consequences are terrifying, but Clapp’s great book somehow leaves you awe-inspired by the sheer outrageousness of the human ingenuity that has created this toxic mess.”
—Jeff Goodell, author of the New York Times bestseller The Heat Will Kill You FirstA globe-trotting work of relentless*investigative reporting, Waste Wars is the first major book to expose the catastrophic reality of the multi-billion-dollar global garbage trade. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
Around the world, landfills, ports, and slums are overflowing with trash. Disputes about what to do with the tons of garbage generated by humans every day have given rise to waste wars in just about every country on earth. Some are border skirmishes. Others are waged across thousands of miles and multiple oceans. But no matter the scale, one thing is true about almost all of them: few people have any idea they're happening.
Journalist Alexander Clapp spent two years roaming five continents to report from deep inside the world of Indonesian trash traders, Turkish steel resellers, environmental whisper networks in the jungles of Guatemala, and a community of Ghanian burner boys trading in old electronics and has emerged to tell readers what he does know: globalized garbage is a bizarre, illogical industry. While some trash gets tossed onto roadsides, burned for fuel, or buried underground, most of it actually lives a second life, getting bartered, sold, re-sold, smuggled, salvaged, or re-purposed from one rich country or warring family or giant corporation to another, with devastating consequences for millions of people. In other words, someone's afternoon snack in America will become an almost geological event in Indonesia.
Waste Wars*unveils a stark reality: What does the global business of trash say about our world today? And what does it say about us?
A globe-trotting work of relentless*investigative reporting, Waste Wars is the first major book to expose the catastrophic reality of the multi-billion-dollar global garbage trade. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * **
Around the world, landfills, ports, and slums are overflowing with trash. Disputes about what to do with the tons of garbage generated by humans every day have given rise to waste wars in just about every country on earth. Some are border skirmishes. Others are waged across thousands of miles and multiple oceans. But no matter the scale, one thing is true about almost all of them: few people have any idea they're happening.
Journalist Alexander Clapp spent two years roaming five continents to report from deep inside the world of Indonesian trash traders, Turkish steel resellers, environmental whisper networks in the jungles of Guatemala, and a community of Ghanian burner boys trading in old electronics and has emerged to tell readers what he does know: globalized garbage is a bizarre, illogical industry. While some trash gets tossed onto roadsides, burned for fuel, or buried underground, most of it actually lives a second life, getting bartered, sold, re-sold, smuggled, salvaged, or re-purposed from one rich country or warring family or giant corporation to another, with devastating consequences for millions of people. In other words, someone's afternoon snack in America will become an almost geological event in Indonesia.
Waste Wars*unveils a stark reality: What does the global business of trash say about our world today? And what does it say about us?
Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash
Waste Wars: The Wild Afterlife of Your Trash
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Editorial Reviews
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940192019610 |
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Publisher: | Hachette Audio |
Publication date: | 02/25/2025 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |