Informace o publikaci
Municipal waste management policy in Europe: Are sustainable development goals undermined by the Treadmill of Production?
| Autoři | |
|---|---|
| Rok publikování | 2008 |
| Druh | Další prezentace na konferencích |
| Fakulta / Pracoviště MU | |
| Citace | |
| Popis | Though sustainable development is the official goal of European Union waste policy, the recent problem of illegal municipal waste shipment from Germany to the Czech Republic raises questions about whether sustainability is possible in practice. What are the obstacles to sustainable waste management in Europe? To understand the broader lessons of the Czech case for European waste policymaking, the environmental sociological Treadmill of Production (ToP) theory is applied. The paper introduces ToP theory, describes European waste policy at the national and international levels, and presents empirical research about the Czech case. Analyzing the significance of the Czech case in light of ToP theory, the paper concludes that macro-level political-economic forces contribute to the problem of illegal waste shipment in Europe and undermine EU sustainability principles. Municipal waste management policy has become increasingly strict in recent decades in Europe. The European Union and its member states have sought to protect the environment by crafting waste-related policies consistent with the waste hierarchy, the Polluter Pays Principle, the Proximity Principle, and other principles of sustainable development. But while sustainability is the aim of European waste policy, there is a long and continuing history of illegal waste shipment on the continent, which brings the effectiveness of such legislation into question. The Czech Republic, for example, has become a destination for international waste smugglers. Since late 2005, municipal solid waste originating in Germany has been found improperly imported and disposed of in the Czech countryside, with deposits discovered by authorities in farm fields, sheds, warehouses, and other inappropriate locations. Exposed to the elements, the waste represents a risk to environmental quality and public health. Many observers link this illegal waste shipment to enactment of a new, strict landfilling law in Germany in mid-2005. While the policy was intended to reduce environmental impacts by limiting the quantity and toxicity of landfilled waste, one result has been the export of rubbish, and therefore environmental risk, to Germany’s eastern neighbors. Analysis of the Czech case reveals much about the actual consequences – intended and unintended – of European waste policies. Treadmill of Production (ToP) theory provides a framework for analyzing this situation which challenges the very notion of “sustainable development,” and suggests that, even in the most democratic and ecologically progressive Western European nations, beliefs and practices which promote economic growth commonly prevail over environmental values. From a macrostructural point of view, ToP theory indicates that the Czech case is ultimately a result of political-economic forces which encourage individuals and organizations to generate ever-increasing quantities of waste and give incentives to producers to treat and dispose of waste at the lowest possible cost by any means, whether legal or illegal. More specifically, the paper concludes that, notwithstanding the motivations of individual waste smugglers, institutional factors such as a complex regulatory system and weak law enforcement contribute to creating conditions under which the treadmill’s logic of profit-maximization and free trade overwhelm sustainability initiatives and environmental values. |