Managing Complex Waste

Jones, Craig and Stowell, Alison (2025) Managing Complex Waste. In: Elgar Business Ethics Encylopaedia :. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd.. (In Press)

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Abstract

Waste is no longer understood as discarded material or object, but as a complex, dynamic phenomenon shaped by global systems, material compositions and socio-political relationships. Waste arises through interacting factors such as global development, population increase, technological innovation, economic models, diminishing natural resources and decreasing space to store and handle it. Waste now circulates widely and poses biophysical and social challenges, often comprised of multiple synthetic materials with varied decomposition temporalities. Understanding waste requires engaging with embedded relationships, social, material and political dimensions, shifting definitions across cultures, industry and institutions. The movement and (mis)management of waste raise ethical and political questions about power, labour, environmental justice, and global inequality. Addressing the complexity of waste requires attention to multiscalar spatial and temporal dynamics, ethical considerations of harm distribution, and cocreated and inclusive frameworks that recognise informal labour, environmental inequalities, and future generations. Waste is a dynamic socio-material and political phenomenon, requiring solutions beyond technical fixes to achieve justice and sustainability. Keywords Waste, Complexity, Governance, Spatiality, Temporality, Ethics