Environmental movements, waste and waste infrastructure: An introduction

The increasing amount and complex nature of municipal waste presents problems of management. Recognising the inadequacies of landfill, waste management authorities proposed incineration, but large-scale incineration provoked more public concern and protest. Concerns about toxicity of incinerator emissions led to tighter regulation, but as evidence of the impacts of air pollution upon human health has hardened, opposition to incineration has persisted. The inequitable distribution of exposure to waste-related risks has generalised demands for environmental justice. There is variation in the extent to which anti-incinerator campaigns are networked among themselves and with environmental NGOs, but such networking has increased and is now transnational. New technologies mitigate some of the hazards of modern waste management but are unlikely to eliminate public protest over the siting of waste infrastructure. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.