CleanBeta

Tracking Trash: Maps of the Black-Trade in Trash

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Hazardous waste generation in 2001 as reported by the Parties to the Basel Convention. Hazardous waste is controlled from generation until ultimate disposal. At least in theory.

Major bottled water exporters and importers. The maps illustrate insanity of contemporary global trade in bottles water. The trade flows aren’t driven by local needs or resource availability (in most countries where large amounts of bottled water are consumed, the tap water is perfectly drinkable).

Major waste exporters, Major waste receivers. Nations like the Netherlands and Belgium are effectively “waste exports extraordinaire.” They are the world’s top waste exporters, a fact that reflects neither the waste they produce (given their population) nor their internal processing capacity. On the contrary, the high waste volume more likely reflects the tiny nation’s geography, which presumably lnhas arge amounts of hazardous waste pass through it on the North Sea.

Major merchandise ports (or, waste transit points0. The black market in waste arose initially in the 1980s when three trends collided: increasing amounts of hazardous waste; inadequate processing plants; and stricter regulations in the developed world with growing environmental awareness. When the price of wast processing increased, less scrupulous dealers simply sent their waste abroad.

Number of planes to be dismantled worldwide. When an airplane dies, its value as scrap-metal is born. Airplanes are scavenged for spare parts for other aircrafts or converted into training aircrew training props or firefighters. In the absence of one of these, the sheet metal is cut off and melted down — wh wouldn’t considering the cost of metal these day?

Energy consumption per capita (2004). The world will need (demand) over 50% more energy than it currently does by the year 2030, according to recent UN forecasts. Oil and natural gas are likely to account for more than 60% of the increase.

Cell phone composition. There are too many types of trash involved in manufacturing mobile phones too mention them all. Developed countries rely on production processes that secure sensitive materials in a closed circuit, which prevents waste from leaking. The infamous location Westerns know as “Made in Elsewhere” is almost invariably far, far away from the place where most phones are used. Needless to say, the environmental and health standards in the factories are not always as nice as Scandinavian prisons, which are admittedly very nice in some cases.

Waste at every stage. The squares reflect the estimated amounts of waste generated by sector in 2002 in millions of tons. The analysis runs from cradle to grave and captures waste generated across the entire life-cycle of a product.

Energy production waste in selected European countries. The energy sector churns out prodigious amounts of waste because the generation process also creates substantial quantities of waste. These include: waste from mining and upgrading coal and lignite (tailing); waste from oil and gas refining; combustion waste from thermal power stations; waste from air-pollution abatement devices.

*Photos Provided Courtesy of UNEP