plastics

plastics

Plastic China

A woman and her family live next to a recycling plant in China, in mountains of plastic waste from Asia, Europe, and the U.S.This documentary reveals the lives of those on the fringes of global capitalist realities, a far cry from the communist dream.

Making a Green Machine: The Infrastructure of Beverage Container Recycling

Finn Arne Jørgensen examines the development of the Scandinavian beverage container deposit-refund system, which has the highest return rates in the world, from 1970 to the present day. He reveals the challenges faced when the system was exported internationally and explores the critical role of technological infrastructures and consumer convenience in modern recycling.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind: The Politics and Culture of Waste

About this issue

Waste is never completely or permanently “out of sight.” Once discarded, it undergoes transformations, often reappearing elsewhere in new forms. In this volume of RCC Perspectives, scholars from different disciplines—from history and art history, urban geography, environmental studies, and anthropology—investigate the traces waste leaves behind in the course of its travels.

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