tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/waste-removal-22682/articlesWaste removal – The Conversation2021-12-07T14:59:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1733402021-12-07T14:59:01Z2021-12-07T14:59:01ZHyenas’ unpicky feeding habits help clean up a town in Ethiopia<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436084/original/file-20211207-19-kknfvt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">shutterstock</span> </figcaption></figure><p>Hyenas aren’t the most popular animals. Sometimes they kill people’s livestock. They are also thought of as scavengers, with some unappealing eating behaviour. Then there’s their cackling “laugh” and their physical looks, less graceful in some eyes than other large predators like lions or leopards. </p>
<p>But there’s a more positive side to these often misunderstood creatures. In Mekelle, a town in northern Ethiopia, <a href="https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/1365-2664.14024">research</a> has exposed and quantified the economic and health benefits that spotted hyenas bring to the community. Every year, they consume over 200 tons of waste in and around Mekelle. </p>
<p>The research also ran some disease transmission models. It found that by eating discarded carcasses, the hyenas are reducing the potential spread of diseases like anthrax and bovine tuberculosis. That’s a service to people and other animals, and saves some disease treatment and control costs.</p>
<p>In today’s episode of Pasha, biology student Chinmay Sonawane and wildlife conservation researcher Neil Carter take us through their findings on the benefits that spotted hyenas provide to the people of Mekelle.</p>
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<p><strong>Photo</strong>
“Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta), also known as the laughing hyena.” Photo by Vladimir Wrangel found on <a href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/spotted-hyena-crocuta-known-laughing-1177808107">Shutterstock.</a></p>
<p><strong>Music:</strong>
“Happy African Village” by John Bartmann, found on <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/John_Bartmann/Public_Domain_Soundtrack_Music_Album_One/happy-african-village">FreeMusicArchive.org</a> licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/">CC0 1</a>.</p>
<p>“Ambient guitar X1 - Loop mode” by frankum, found on <a href="https://freesound.org/people/frankum/sounds/393520/">Freesound</a> licensed under <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">Attribution License.</a></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173340/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
Spotted hyenas provide ecosystem services that improve human welfare and contribute to sustainable development goals.Ozayr Patel, Digital EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1418902020-07-09T15:14:32Z2020-07-09T15:14:32ZSouth African study highlights growing number of landfill sites, and health risks<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/346013/original/file-20200707-194418-1s87gr2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Living close to waste sites has multiple health risks.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Frédéric Soltan/Corbis via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has been considerable public attention in recent years on the role of waste in developing countries, in particular because they are often recipients of waste that originates in developed countries. Certain types of waste, such as scrap metal, are sources of <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281865813_Global_recycling_markets_plastic_waste_A_story_for_one_player_-_China_ISWA_Globalisation_and_Waste_Management_Task_Force">inexpensive raw materials</a> for manufacturing purposes. </p>
<p>The recycling of waste to recover and then reprocess materials into new products, when this doesn’t hurt the environment, can provide economic benefit. The type of economic system that aims to eliminate waste and the continual use of resources, known as a <a href="https://www.nature.com/news/the-circular-economy-1.19594">circular economy</a>, can help to reduce the amount of landfill waste and contribute towards sustainable development. </p>
<p>But such aspirations don’t automatically translate into the best outcomes – for people, or for the environment. In the US, research has been done showing that larger recycling sites are located in <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d14dab43967cc000179f3d2/t/5d5c4bea0d59ad00012d220e/1566329840732/CR_GaiaReportFinal_05.21.pdf">poor neighbourhoods</a>. And China has severely restricted imports of such waste since 2018, <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/features/piling-up-how-chinas-ban-on-importing-waste-has-stalled-global-recycling">citing problems</a> with soil and material contamination. </p>
<p>In sub-Saharan Africa rapid population growth and economic development have contributed to unprecedented growth in waste and the number of waste sites in the region. This is concerning given that there is considerable scientific evidence about wide-ranging health consequences of living near waste sites. Examples range from <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27222499/">asthma</a> to effects on <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021755718307654">mental health</a>. </p>
<p>There is little country-level evidence in sub-Saharan Africa that quantifies the health risk of living close to a waste site. To fill this knowledge gap, we <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(20)30101-7/fulltext">conducted an investigation</a> in South Africa.</p>
<p>Our research found that between 2008 and 2015 there was a substantial increase in the number of people exposed to waste sites because of a spike in the number of landfill sites. Our findings also identified multiple health risks in living close to waste sites. The study illustrates how poor people are taking on the brunt of the negative effects of waste. </p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We used nationally representative data from the <a href="https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/catalog/NIDS/about">South African National Income Dynamics Study</a>. The database is designed to monitor socio-economic factors and the health of households over time. The geographical coordinates of each household are included. We then used waste site geospatial locations from the <a href="http://sawic.environment.gov.za/">South African Waste Information System</a> to derive the distance between the nearest waste site and the income dynamics households, in kilometres.</p>
<p>We used these sources of information to get a handle on the growth in the number of waste sites and to quantify the health status of 32,255 individuals between 2008 and 2015.</p>
<p>During the period we observed a substantial increase in the number of waste sites – from 42 in 2008 to 1,086 in 2015. Our calculations show that the distance to the nearest site decreased from 68.3km in 2008 to 8.5km in 2015. In terms of finite distance, 2.8% of homes were within 5km distance of a waste site in 2008. This estimate increased to around 35.5% by 2015. </p>
<p>We also found from our analysis that people living within 5km of a waste site were at a higher risk of certain conditions. We calculated that this population had a 41% higher risk of asthma, an 18% higher risk of developing tuberculosis, a 25% higher chance of having diabetes, and an 8% greater chance of having depression compared to those who lived further than 5km from a waste site. </p>
<p>Equally important, we found that tuberculosis, diabetes and depression were significantly higher among individuals from households with lower income, highlighting health inequalities associated with poverty.</p>
<p>One major study limitation is that we did not have an actual measure of pollutants from waste sites to establish a causality relationship between exposure to waste sites and health. But we also can’t rule out the possibility of reverse causation and association. For example, individuals with poor health and low income don’t have much choice about where they live. </p>
<h2>What should be done</h2>
<p>A number of steps need to be taken to address the issues we faced.</p>
<p>Firstly, it’s necessary to reduce the amount of waste and number of sites through more aggressive recycling. According to a <a href="https://www.environment.gov.za/otherdocuments/reports">2018 report</a> by the South African Department of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, only 10% of waste is recycled. The remaining estimated 98 million tons is deposited into landfill sites each year.</p>
<p>There also needs to be an improvement in waste management. The choice between economic growth and environmental protection is a false dichotomy, given that the conservation of ecosystem services is in itself a <a href="https://researchportal.helsinki.fi/en/publications/the-ecosystem-service-of-sense-of-place-benefits-for-human-well-b">sustainable economic development strategy</a>. </p>
<p>Although doubtful in practice, we acknowledge the point of view that waste and innovations in waste management sites (such as waste-to-energy incineration technology) may be an opportunity for economic activity and counter against climate change if planned and implemented correctly. But do these sites have to be close to where people live, especially the marginalised and socioeconomically vulnerable? </p>
<p>As South Africa advances with its waste management, particularly managing the waste of developed countries, it should ask itself <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/W/bo20852964.html">whose interests are being served</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/141890/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Tomita was supported by the South African Medical Research Council (MRC-RFAUFSP-01–2013/UKZN HIVEPI) with funds from the South African National Treasury under its Economic Competitiveness and Support Package. This study forms part of the Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems (SHEFS) programme supported by the Wellcome Trust’s Our Planet, Our Health programme (grant number: 205200/Z/16/Z). This content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the South Africa Medical Research Council, South African National Treasury, or the Wellcome Trust.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rob Slotow has previously received a large number of external funding grants, including funding from the Wellcome Trust for the Sustainable and Health Food Systems project, through the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which assisted in funding this study. He is a member of the Minister of Environmental Affairs, Forestry and Fisheries high level panel of experts for the review of policies, legislation and practices on matters of elephant, lion, leopard and rhinoceros management, breeding, hunting, trade and handling. He is co-Chair of the IUCN SSC African Elephant Special Group.</span></em></p>There are multiple health risks in living close to waste sites, with substantial racial and income differences playing a major role.Andrew Tomita, Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-NatalRob Slotow, Pro-vice Chancellor of African Cities of the Future, University of KwaZulu-NatalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1279172020-01-30T19:04:27Z2020-01-30T19:04:27ZAs cities grow, the Internet of Things can help us get on top of the waste crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312356/original/file-20200128-119984-1xoo3s6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C14%2C2943%2C1930&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Melbourne is one Australian city that's moving to improve its waste management and reduce its reliance on trucks to collect waste.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">TK Kurikawa/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Total global waste is expected to double from nearly 2 billion tonnes in 2016 to an <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg11">estimated 4 billion tonnes</a> by 2050 as consumer-oriented urban populations grow. As population growth increases consumption and waste, managing this waste is becoming an ever greater challenge. The <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/what-is-the-internet-of-things-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-iot-right-now/">Internet of Things</a> (IoT) can be used to develop smarter and more effective ways of managing and reducing waste. </p>
<p>IoT is a monitoring technology, which enables accurate tracking and collection of real-time data. It can help with problems such as timing of waste collection, and waste treatment and disposal. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-next-great-leap-forward-combining-robots-with-the-internet-of-things-108307">The next great leap forward? Combining robots with the Internet of Things</a>
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<h2>How a smart city manages waste</h2>
<p>IoT can enable automation, through cyber-physical systems, that changes the way waste management takes place. Some cities are already using a combination of IoT and sensors to operate smart waste management systems. </p>
<p>For example, Songdo in South Korea is a purpose-built smart city that uses a combination of IoT and sensors to operate its <a href="https://culturaldimensionsustainability.wordpress.com/2017/05/09/376/">waste management system</a>. Songdo aims to <a href="https://medium.com/cusp-civic-analytics-urban-intelligence/what-can-we-learn-from-songdo-ibd-a-35-billion-1500-acre-model-for-future-smart-city-7146af64f3d2">recycle 76% of its waste</a> by 2020, through its highly efficient and convenient waste management system. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312382/original/file-20200129-92954-kfvglf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312382/original/file-20200129-92954-kfvglf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/312382/original/file-20200129-92954-kfvglf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312382/original/file-20200129-92954-kfvglf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312382/original/file-20200129-92954-kfvglf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=598&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312382/original/file-20200129-92954-kfvglf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312382/original/file-20200129-92954-kfvglf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/312382/original/file-20200129-92954-kfvglf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=752&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Automated waste disposal bins are connected via underground pipes to a waste-processing centre.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/welix/7045649479/in/photolist-bJAN8a">Weli'mi'nakwan/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>The city is connected by a <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-23757738">truck-free waste management system</a>. Automated waste disposal bins are located throughout the city. Pneumatic <a href="https://www.seequent.com/will-tomorrows-waste-feel-the-pressure/">pipes suck waste</a> directly from premises into an underground network of pipes and tunnels. </p>
<p>The system connects to a central waste-processing facility called the “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/09/songdo-south-korea-the-city-of-the-future/380849/">Third Zone Automated Waste Collection Plant</a>”. Waste is automatically sorted and recycled, buried, or burned for energy. Some of the key reported benefits are greater energy efficiency and reduced landfill and energy costs.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/while-governments-talk-about-smart-cities-its-citizens-who-create-them-59230">While governments talk about smart cities, it's citizens who create them</a>
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<h2>World is ‘off track’ on SDGs</h2>
<p>In 2018, 4.2 billion people, or <a href="https://population.un.org/wup/Publications/Files/WUP2018-Highlights.pdf">55% of the world’s population</a>, lived in cities. By 2050, <a href="https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html">two-thirds of the world’s people</a> will be urban. Increasing urbanisation has serious environmental sustainability implications and creates significant burdens on infrastructure, including waste management.</p>
<p>Sustainability planning is critical – it includes investing in public transport systems, creating green public spaces and improving urban planning and waste management. The scale of the problem of urban waste makes smarter approaches to recycling and resource recovery essential. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/business-as-usual-the-sustainable-development-goals-apply-to-australian-cities-too-102641">Business as usual? The Sustainable Development Goals apply to Australian cities too</a>
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<p>Managing waste is a major challenge for cities worldwide. At the United Nations <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgsummit">Sustainable Development Summit</a> last September, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be accelerated. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1176644823945797632"}"></div></p>
<p>The summit formally adopted a new sustainable development agenda and <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgactions">145 SDG acceleration actions</a>. Forty-two of these actions are related to <a href="https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdg11">SDG11</a> – Sustainable Cities and Communities.</p>
<h2>Australia’s waste crisis</h2>
<p>Australia, with a fast-growing population population of <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/0/1647509ef7e25faaca2568a900154b63?OpenDocument">about 25.5 million</a>, is struggling with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/chinas-recycling-ban-throws-australia-into-a-very-messy-waste-crisis-95522">waste crisis</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/another-coag-meeting-another-limp-swing-at-the-waste-problem-126686">Another COAG meeting, another limp swing at the waste problem</a>
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<p>Australia’s fastest-growing city is Melbourne in Victoria. The state has <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-20/recycling-crisis-victoria-considers-increasing-kerbside-bins/11617258">doubled the amount of waste</a> it generates in the past 20 years. Problems have mounted in <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/nsw-waste-crisis-landfill-levy-gains-20190104-p50pp3.html">New South Wales</a> and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-04-19/queensland-council-recycling-dump-to-start-nationwide-reaction/9673370">Queensland</a> too. </p>
<p>In August 2019, SKM Recycling, which has operations in Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-21/skm-recycling-enters-receivership/11433932">went into receivership</a>. The company received a <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/government-provides-10m-loan-to-kickstart-victorian-recycling-20190826-p52kyw.html">A$10 million government bailout</a> to pay for repairs and maintenance of waste-sorting machines. Nevertheless, councils were forced to <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-08-06/councils-sending-thousands-of-tonnes-of-recycling-to-landfill/11385458">send their recycable materials</a> to landfill after the <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-recycling-crisis-may-be-here-to-stay-112055">Environment Protection Authority ordered</a> the company’s glass recycling service to stop operating. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/dont-just-blame-government-and-business-for-the-recycling-crisis-it-begins-with-us-121241">Don't just blame government and business for the recycling crisis – it begins with us</a>
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<p>Infrastructure Victoria has proposed a <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/six-bins-proposed-as-way-out-of-recycling-crisis-20191021-p532kr.html">six-bin rubbish collection system</a> to reduce contamination of recyclable wastes. Single-use plastic bags <a href="https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/sustainability/plastic-bags">have been banned</a> since November 1 2019. The ban is part of state government measures to reduce plastic pollution and the amount of waste going to landfill and to strengthen Victoria’s recycling industry. Similarly, e-waste is banned from landfill. </p>
<p>The state government has <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/banning-the-bag-to-reduce-plastic-pollution/">invested A$135 million</a> in creating a stable and productive waste and resource recovery sector.</p>
<p>Melbourne continues to modernise its waste management. The city council installed <a href="https://www.ecubelabs.com/melbourne-combats-littering-with-ecubes-smart-bins/">CleanCUBE solar-powered waste compactors</a> in high-density parts of the city in 2018. </p>
<p>Besides reducing the footprint of public litter bins by 49%, the city has greatly reduced the average number of waste collections and therefore of waste trucks roaming the streets. This has eased traffic congestion and reduced carbon emissions. But will such measures be enough to cope with urban population growth? </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-recycling-is-actually-sorted-and-why-australia-is-quite-bad-at-it-121120">How recycling is actually sorted, and why Australia is quite bad at it</a>
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<h2>What more can be done?</h2>
<p>Infrastructure Victoria is advising the state government on how to create a strong and sustainable recycling and resource recovery industry. Its <a href="https://www.infrastructurevictoria.com.au/project/advice-on-waste-infrastructure-in-victoria/">preliminary report</a> proposes several options, including: </p>
<ul>
<li>tackle food waste, which makes up <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-10-20/recycling-crisis-victoria-considers-increasing-kerbside-bins/11617258">more than one-third</a> of household rubbish going to landfill </li>
<li>push manufacturers to use more recycled products</li>
<li>reform the <a href="https://www.audit.vic.gov.au/report/managing-municipal-and-industrial-landfill-levy?section=">landfill levy</a> to create an incentive to reduce disposal of waste to landfills and encourage greater re-use and recycling of resources, with funds raised by the levy able to be used to the support recycling and resource recovery sector</li>
<li>ban single-use plastics.</li>
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<p>The report also proposes a “waste-to-energy” policy – converting food waste to low-emissions electricity. </p>
<p>We suggest Melbourne (and other Australian cities) can further develop its waste-management strategy and policy to promote resource efficiency with IoT. Having IoT embedded in waste-management systems will improve resource efficiency, tracking and measurement. IoT also acts as an accountability mechanism (for waste management governance and reporting) for cities’ waste management. </p>
<p>Using IoT in this way will strengthen recycling industries and specifically enable Australia to be at the forefront of implementing the SDG 2030 agenda.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127917/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Cities around the world are struggling to manage their mountains of waste. We can use the Internet of Things for smart waste systems that collect, sort, reuse and recycle most of what is thrown out.Dr David Teh, Sessional Lecturer and Tutor, College of Business, RMIT UniversityTehmina Khan, Lecturer in Accounting, RMIT UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1219532019-09-03T13:05:22Z2019-09-03T13:05:22ZHow potential of massive e-waste dump in Ghana can be harnessed<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/289832/original/file-20190828-184202-13injzf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C44%2C960%2C580&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Separated display screens (TVs) at the site.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alison Stowell</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Agbogbloshie in Ghana is a vast urban area that houses a massive e-waste recycling dump. Situated on the banks of the Korle Lagoon alongside the Old Fadama slum, it is home to <a href="https://www.ban.org/news/2019/4/24/rotten-eggs-e-waste-from-europe-poisons-ghanas-food-chain">around 80 000 people</a>. Back in the <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/agbogbloshie">1960s as Ghana industrialised</a>, migrants flocked to Accra and settled in Old Fadama. Then, around the year 2000, ships started to come in with e-waste.</p>
<p>Today, many work at the “digital dumping ground”, sorting through technological products like washing machines, cookers, vehicles, cell phones and computers. These products have historically been sourced from higher income countries such as the US or those in Europe. But there has been a <a href="https://rgs-ibg.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/geoj.12077">shift in where e-waste is sourced</a>: domestically Ghana now produces its own e-waste, with imports being mainly made up of reusable electronics. </p>
<p>Agbogbloshie often receives bad press – it’s even been nicknamed “<a href="http://www.welcome-to-sodom.com/">Sodom</a>” after the Biblical city destroyed by God for its residents’ sins. Workers burn cables covered in plastic so they can get at the valuable copper contained in many digital devices faster. This contributes to air, soil and water pollution. There are also <a href="https://www.who.int/ceh/risks/ewaste/en/">health risks</a> involved – workers can inhale toxic fumes, and nearby contaminate <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/apr/24/rotten-chicken-eggs-e-waste-from-europe-poisons-ghana-food-chain-agbogbloshie-accra">food sources</a>.</p>
<p>But I saw a different side of Agbogbloshie when I visited it in 2018. As an academic who <a href="http://www.research.lancs.ac.uk/portal/en/people/alison-stowell(2878fcb4-b9d6-4201-9f2f-42e318815872).html">researches e-waste</a>, <a href="https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/pentland/research-areas/waste-and-the-circular-economy/">waste and the circular economy</a>, I was struck by the site’s thriving hierarchical ecosystem of entrepreneurial activity. Everything had its place. There were dedicated spaces for dismantling and handling different waste streams, repair and refurbishment activities and weighing scales. </p>
<p>There were also food shacks selling deep fried plantains, makeshift protective clothing (T-shirt masks), and forms of sanitation with toilets scattered around the place.</p>
<p>Agbogbloshie, and sites like it elsewhere in the developing world, provide a valuable service. They offer opportunities for job creation, profit and cleaning up environments littered with waste. These activities also give discarded goods a new lease of life, encouraging second-hand markets in electronic and electrical goods while recognising the skills associated with repair. </p>
<p>Worldwide we discard <a href="https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Climate-Change/Documents/GEM%202017/Global-E-waste%20Monitor%202017%20.pdf">44.7 million metric tonnes</a> worth of electronics and electrical equipment. These devices contain materials that have a collective higher value than <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/01/how-a-circular-approach-can-turn-e-waste-into-a-golden-opportunity/">120 countries’ Gross Domestic Product</a> – in the region of Ghanaian cedis 333 billion or €55 billion. And, for every 1000 tonnes discarded, there is an opportunity to <a href="https://www.epa.ie/pubs/reports/research/waste/strive110-re-evaluate-re-useofelectricalandelectronicequipment.html">create 15 recycling jobs and 200 repair jobs</a>. </p>
<p>Three steps could be taken to harness the potential of Agbogbloshie and sites like it. </p>
<p>First, formal recognition by investors, the government and the private sector. This would help to ensure a boost in funding; improved, safer infrastructure and healthier worker conditions. Second, there must be a focus on how to manage the flow of materials to and from e-waste sites. This is in line with the requirements outlined by the <a href="http://www.basel.int/">Basel Convention</a>, which aims to control the movement of hazardous waste to protect human health and the environment. And third, the people working at similar sites could co-create new and relearn old practices. Knowledge sharing is key.</p>
<h2>Recognition</h2>
<p>Some of the workers at Agbogbloshie told me that they didn’t tell people outside the immediate area what they did for a living. This was because their work was considered dirty. A local expert, Karim Saagbul, from <a href="http://www.wiego.org/category/regions/sub-saharan-africa/ghana">Ghana WIEGO</a> – which works to empower informal workers, particularly women – confirmed the stigma attached to this work. The organisation supports informal waste workers at Agbogbloshie. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290073/original/file-20190829-106486-5r05pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/290073/original/file-20190829-106486-5r05pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290073/original/file-20190829-106486-5r05pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290073/original/file-20190829-106486-5r05pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290073/original/file-20190829-106486-5r05pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290073/original/file-20190829-106486-5r05pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/290073/original/file-20190829-106486-5r05pb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A jumble of wires in a wheelbarrow. Plastic is burned off the wires to get at the valuable copper inside.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Alison Stowell</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There have been <a href="http://citifmonline.com/2018/03/waste-pickers-association-appeals-health-post/">some calls</a> for the work at Agbogbloshie to be recognised as legitimate and important for national development. This is crucial. Waste picking and repair work allows people to make a reasonable living, though they earn <a href="https://wageindicator.org/salary/living-wage/ghana-living-wage-series-january-2018">below the country’s average</a>: monthly <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/2/135/htm">salaries range from $70 to $140</a> for a scrap collector to $1050 for middlemen who act as the intermediaries between the dealers and recyclers, which in turn supports the country’s economy. </p>
<p>There are also economic benefits to expanding the life span of products that might otherwise stay on the junk heaps. This appears to make sense to the <a href="http://www.ghanaiantimes.com.gh/fisrt-part-of-agbogbloshie-e-waste-project-inaugurated/">German government</a>: it has funded new e-waste facilities at Agbogbloshie in an ongoing effort to offer training in safer recycling practices; a hospital; and a football pitch for entertainment. This initiative aims to support the development of a more sustainable and inclusive e-waste management system that brings together informal and formal groups operating within this space. </p>
<p>Securing a reliable source of e-waste and second-hand electricals is a <a href="https://www.rivisteweb.it/doi/10.3240/89695">challenge</a> both for developed and developing countries. </p>
<p>If you want to operate a refurbishment or recycling business, you need a supply of materials. If organisations engaged directly with the informal sector, they could be responsible suppliers of second-hand goods and secure valuable resources for their production processes. It is lucrative business as <a href="https://www.apnews.com/f9a0d071d1d646edb2b53fd22fd8548c">Ghana imports approximately 150 000 tonnes</a> of second-hand electrical and electronic goods a year. </p>
<p>Due to the hazardous chemicals contained within e-waste products such as lead, cadmium, mercury, amongst others, the flows are governed by <a href="http://www.basel.int/Implementation/Controllingtransboundarymovements/Overview/tabid/4325/Default.aspx">voluntary agreements</a> and <a href="https://news.weeelogic.com/africa-news-ghanas-e-waste-legal-framework">legislation</a>. These policies would need to be revisited to ensuring the transportation and handling of goods was done in an appropriate manner but did not inhibit the flow. </p>
<p>Confidence in <a href="https://www.iso.org/isoiec-27001-information-security.html">data security or destruction</a> would also need to be considered, especially for data baring technologies like mobile phones, tablets and laptops; nobody wants to be at risk of identify or data theft. Engagement on this level could encourage goods for reuse to actually be goods for reuse, rather than those <a href="https://allafrica.com/stories/201709300031.html">illegally traded or dumped</a>. </p>
<h2>Knowledge transfer</h2>
<p>Finally, knowledge transfer is vital to develop inclusive, creative and safer practices. </p>
<p>Even with mature infrastructures, globally <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/blog/2015/05/un-environment-chief-warns-of-tsunami-of-e-waste-at-conference-on-chemical-treaties/">1 million people die of occupational poisoning</a> caused by chemicals in their bodies. That number is just the registered employees, the figure may be higher if the waste pickers and informal workers were to be included. So, working with established organisations, there is an opportunity to share safer practices. </p>
<p>Collaboration presents an opportunity to co-create new practices, or share and re-learn those that already exist. The youth-driven <a href="https://qamp.net/">Agbobloshie Makerspace Place Project</a> presents exciting opportunities for exactly this. It offers community makerspaces to educate, produce tools, design products and a digital platform to encourage the repair, recycling and new trades. The kiosks are put together by hand and welcome all.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121953/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Stowell does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sites like Agbogbloshie provides a valuable service. They offer opportunities for job creation, profit and cleaning up environments littered with waste.Alison Stowell, Lecturer at Lancaster University Management School, and Associate Director of the Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business Research Centre., Lancaster UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1201802019-08-20T12:33:20Z2019-08-20T12:33:20ZDesigning new ways to make use of ocean plastic<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288688/original/file-20190820-170951-218uca.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C3%2C2256%2C1489&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Even remote beaches are often strewn with plastic debris.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwshq/8080500982/">Susan White/USFWS</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Beachcombing has long been a part of life for island communities. On the southwestern edge of Scarp, a small, treeless island off the coast of Harris in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, the Mol Mòr (“big beach”) was where locals went to collect driftwood for repairing buildings and making furniture and coffins. Today there is still much driftwood, but as much or more plastic. </p>
<p>Scarp was abandoned in 1972. The island is now used only in summer by owners of a small number of holiday homes. But across Harris and the Hebrides, people continue to make practical and decorative use of beachcombed plastic items. Many homes will have a few buoys and trawler floats hanging on fences and gateposts. Black plastic PVC pipe, in plentiful supply from fish farms wrecked by storms, is often used for footpath drainage or filled with concrete and used as fence posts. Larger pipe can be split lengthways to make feeder troughs for the famously hardy highland cattle. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287859/original/file-20190813-9431-lrbss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287859/original/file-20190813-9431-lrbss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/287859/original/file-20190813-9431-lrbss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287859/original/file-20190813-9431-lrbss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287859/original/file-20190813-9431-lrbss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287859/original/file-20190813-9431-lrbss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287859/original/file-20190813-9431-lrbss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/287859/original/file-20190813-9431-lrbss7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1006&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In the Handmade Harris craft market in Tarbert, a birdfeeder by Lorna Wheeler made from re-purposed plastic waste washed ashore.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Lambert</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Rope and netting are used as windbreaks or to prevent ground erosion. Many islanders use fish boxes – large plastic crates washed ashore - for storage. And there is a small craft industry that repurposes found objects as tourist souvenirs, turning plastic tat into anything from bird feeders to buttons.</p>
<p>But this beachcombing, recycling and re-use of larger plastic items does not even scratch the surface of the problem. The smaller fragments of plastic that are harder to collect are more likely to enter the food chain, or be drawn back into the sea. Storms cutting away at riverbanks often reveal an alarming plastic geology, with layers of plastic fragments in the soil several feet below the surface.</p>
<p>Reports indicating the scale of plastic pollution of the world’s oceans have become widespread in the past ten years, with the final episode of the BBC’s Blue Planet II in 2017 with David Attenborough marking a high-water point of recognition of the problem. Estimates of the amount of plastic entering the oceans each year range from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1260352">8m tonnes</a> to <a href="https://www.eunomia.co.uk/reports-tools/plastics-in-the-marine-environment/">12m tonnes</a>, although there is no way of accurately measuring this. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/xLx4fVsYdTI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>It is not a new problem: one of the islanders who has spent 35 years holidaying on Scarp said that the variety of objects found on Mol Mòr had diminished since <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2016/oct/27/new-york-rubbish-all-that-trash-city-waste-in-numbers">New York City stopped dumping rubbish at sea</a> in 1994. But a reduction in diversity has been more than matched by an increase in quantity: the BBC Radio 4 programme Costing the Earth reported in 2010 that <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v1qtn">plastic litter on beaches had doubled since 1994</a>.</p>
<h2>Old problems, new methods</h2>
<p>Growing awareness of ocean plastic has prompted local efforts to keep beaches clean. But the amount of discards collected poses the question of what to do with it. Ocean plastic <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/111/28/10239">photo-degenerates with long exposure to sunlight</a>, sometimes making it difficult to identify, and difficult to recycle as it is contaminated with salt and often with sea life growing on its surface. Some recycling methods can be successful only with a maximum ratio of <a href="https://www.wired.com/2012/07/method-soap-bottle-from-ocean-plastic/">10% ocean plastic to 90% plastic from domestic sources</a>.</p>
<p>Local groups sometimes work together to collect large amounts of plastic from the beaches, but for local authorities the challenge is how to deal with a problematic material that is hard or impossible to recycle. The alternative is landfill with an £80 per tonne fee. Lecturer and jewellery-maker <a href="http://smart-jewellery.com/">Kathy Vones</a> and I examined the potential to re-use ocean plastic as the raw material for 3D printers, known as <a href="https://www.3dnatives.com/en/plastics-used-3d-printing110420174/">filament</a>.</p>
<p>For example, polypropylene (PP) can be easily ground down and shaped, but has to be mixed 50:50 with polylactide (PLA) to maintain the consistency the printer requires. Mixing types of plastics like this is a step backwards, in the sense that they become more difficult to recycle, but as an investigation into new potential uses for the material, what we’ve learned might allow us to take two steps forward in the future. Other ocean plastics such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and high-density polyethelene (HDPE) are also suitable.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288690/original/file-20190820-170918-7ysyw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288690/original/file-20190820-170918-7ysyw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288690/original/file-20190820-170918-7ysyw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288690/original/file-20190820-170918-7ysyw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288690/original/file-20190820-170918-7ysyw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288690/original/file-20190820-170918-7ysyw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288690/original/file-20190820-170918-7ysyw3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=506&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Ocean plastic, turned into filament for use in a 3D printer.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Lambert</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Another approach I looked at was to <a href="https://www.napier.ac.uk/research-and-innovation/research-search/outputs/the-isle-of-harris-fish-slice-industrial-crafting-with-ocean-plastic">melt polypropylene rope</a> over a bonfire and use it in an improvised injection moulding machine. But this technique had problems with accurately maintaining the correct temperature, and toxic fumes.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288689/original/file-20190820-170956-1qlk7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288689/original/file-20190820-170956-1qlk7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288689/original/file-20190820-170956-1qlk7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288689/original/file-20190820-170956-1qlk7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288689/original/file-20190820-170956-1qlk7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288689/original/file-20190820-170956-1qlk7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288689/original/file-20190820-170956-1qlk7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288689/original/file-20190820-170956-1qlk7kq.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Design for an off-grid, bonfire-powered, foraged-plastic-fuelled injection moulding machine.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ian Lambert</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Dutch inventor Boyan Slat’s <a href="https://theoceancleanup.com">Ocean Clean Up</a> project has been much more ambitious, aiming to retrieve 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in five years with a large net suspended from an inflatable boom that draws catches the plastic and draws it into a collection platform. However, the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/20/great-pacific-garbage-patch-20m-cleanup-fails-to-collect-plastic">project has run into difficulties</a>, and will in any case collect only larger fragments at the surface. It is estimated that the majority of ocean plastic is <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v1qtn">particles less than 1mm</a> in size <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/">suspended in the water column</a>, with yet more plastic sinking to the ocean floor. </p>
<p>These will require fresh solutions. Removing the vast quantities of plastic in the environment is a vexing problem that will be with us for centuries. We need conscientious joint efforts from politicians and industry and fresh ideas – all of which are currently lacking.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120180/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Lambert receives funding from Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland</span></em></p>Plastic washed ashore from the ocean is hard to recycle. What else can we do with it?Ian Lambert, Dean of Graduate Studies & Professor, College for Creative StudiesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/917242018-02-20T14:37:28Z2018-02-20T14:37:28ZWhy your tourist toilet habits are bad for locals – and the environment<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/206809/original/file-20180216-50550-1yppnws.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>While many prospective holidaymakers actively seek a change in cuisine or climate when choosing their destination, standardised sanitation usually remains a must.</p>
<p>You might think that the preference for a porcelain pew is harmless, but in reality it can put a serious strain on both the local population and the environment. In fact, many of the most pervasive problems associated with tourism can be seen through the toilet bowl.</p>
<p>Research suggests that in some locations <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261517711000793">up to 40% of water is consumed by tourists</a>. Tourists tend to splash out <a href="https://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Unit2-Resource-A-1.pdf">far more per day on average</a> than local residents, who are often <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160738312000047">outcompeted</a> by industry for water access. Using limited freshwater supplies to flush tourists’ toilets means less for residents’ drinking, cleaning and cooking needs.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/207106/original/file-20180220-116360-1g3sdxp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Don’t be scared.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-style-japan-toilet-415484425?src=dQP67N10AKsBsw_E8TjrIg-1-3">Heemsuhree/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Environmentally, the sheer volume of incoming tourists can come at a high price. Local sewage facilities often struggle to cope with the influx of human waste. Many small islands with limited infrastructure, <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michelle_Mycoo/publication/249023794_Sustainable_Tourism_Using_Regulations_Market_Mechanisms_and_Green_Certification_A_Case_Study_of_Barbados/links/5591255108aed6ec4bf69627.pdf">such as Barbados</a>, have no choice but to pump raw sewage straight into the sea, putting vast swathes of the Caribbean’s coral reefs at risk.</p>
<p>This defecatory deluge also depletes limited water reserves. In Cape Town, hotels are having to <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cape-town-drought-water-shortage-luxury-five-star-hotels-day-zero-laundry-showers-toilet-flush-pool-a8191966.html">abruptly limit guests’ water usage</a> as the city suffers drought. In Bali, fast-growing tourism demand is linked to <a href="http://www.idepfoundation.org/en/bwp/summary">rapid depletion of the island’s water resources</a>.</p>
<h2>Sanitation solutions</h2>
<p>These economic and environmental harms often stem from a misplaced sense of cultural superiority that accompanies us to the bathroom. The internet is awash with travellers’ <a href="https://thetravelmanuel.com/why-malaysia-has-the-worst-toilets-in-the-world/">toilet horror stories</a>, written with apparently little social sensitivity or willingness to compromise.</p>
<p>Those fortunate enough to be able to travel might want to remind themselves of UN estimates for 2017, which suggest that <a href="http://www.unwater.org/new-publication-whounicef-joint-monitoring-programme-2017-report/">61% of the global population</a> – roughly 4.5 billion people – lack access to a toilet or latrine that disposes of waste safely. Westerners tend to judge other cultures harshly, when really they should be judging global inequality, poverty and politics.</p>
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<p>Perhaps some judgement should be reserved for people in rich countries themselves, where bathroom norms aren’t exactly perfect. For example, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/may/18/truth-about-poo-doing-it-wrong-giulia-enders-squatting">squatting</a> rather than sitting is better for the colon. Rather than a sight to be avoided, a glance at one’s waste before flushing can in fact be a <a href="https://www.cnwl.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/Healthy_Bowel-_Patient_Information_leaflet.pdf">quick and easy health check</a>. Embarrassment about bodily functions is inhibiting when holidays are meant to be liberating.</p>
<p>Different sanitation solutions suit different situations. The <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/11/17/world-toilet-day-2017">World Bank</a> and the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/magazine/issues/fall-2016/articles/sustainable-toilets-and-their-role-in-freshwater-conservation">WWF</a> have both worked to celebrate toilet innovations across the world that challenge preconceptions and improve sustainability. For instance, <a href="http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2017/11/17/world-toilet-day-2017">urine-diverting privies in Bolivia</a> are an integral link in a chain that converts waste into fertiliser for growing crops. Cranfield University is developing the <a href="http://www.nanomembranetoilet.org/">Nano Membrane Toilet</a>, which converts waste into clean water and energy, without the need for external power or water.</p>
<p>Some Western tourist locations are already rethinking their taste in toilets. Composting toilets introduced in various Scottish nature reserves have proved <a href="https://www.fvl.org.uk/files/2314/5933/7417/Eco-loo_Case_Studies.pdf">highly popular with visitors</a>. Melbourne Zoo and other attractions have implemented <a href="https://www.zoo.org.au/about-us/vision-and-mission/environmental-sustainability/saving-water">water conservation and recycling measures</a> in restrooms, including waterless urinals. The increasing use of such practices by authorities and businesses will only help to challenge harmful expectations when people travel further afield.</p>
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<h2>Potty training</h2>
<p>There are also simple changes that tourists can make when going to the bathroom that will have a positive impact on the environment and local communities, and possibly even lead to more interesting holiday experiences.</p>
<p>Remember that different ecological settings require different bathroom styles. Always avoid flushing wipes and other non-biodegradables. In water stressed areas, be conscious of your water usage. Don’t demand what local people don’t have. The threat of extreme drought has forced Cape Town luxury hotels to ask guests to limit the length of showers, turn off the tap while brushing their teeth, and <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/cape-town-drought-water-shortage-luxury-five-star-hotels-day-zero-laundry-showers-toilet-flush-pool-a8191966.html">let it mellow if its yellow</a>, but actions like these could benefit locals in tourist destinations across the developing world.</p>
<p>Support small businesses. Their toilets may not always be gleaming, but the experience might be more memorable. While luxury tourism in developing countries <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-it-ethical-to-take-a-luxury-holiday-in-a-developing-country-80984">rarely benefits those in need</a>, going local is one way to contribute. </p>
<p>Lastly, nurture your sense of adventure. If you want to live like a local, you should defecate like one. Pack your hand sanitiser and spare toilet roll, and immerse yourself in local culture. Get ready to try out new facilities, not just whatever commode is à la mode. There are <a href="http://www.traveller.com.au/traveller-10-the-worlds-top-toilets-gzs1l0">toilet attractions</a> dotted all over the globe that are well worth a visit. For example, why not try the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/09/south-korea-toilet-theme-park">Haewoojae Museum</a> in South Korea, solely dedicated to celebrating the lavatory.</p>
<p>We shouldn’t expect all toilets to look the same. Tourism is about challenging expectations, exploring alternatives and expanding horizons. For the sake of the environment and the vulnerable, it is high time that we became more open-minded and adventurous with our toilette when travelling. After all, when in Rome, wipe as the Romans wiped (using a <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/01/ancient-roman-toilets-gross/423072/">wet sponge on a stick</a>, apparently).</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/91724/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brendan Canavan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>If you want to live like a local when on holiday, you should defecate like one.Brendan Canavan, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, University of HuddersfieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/855662017-11-06T15:43:18Z2017-11-06T15:43:18ZHow to solve the ‘monster’ fatberg problem<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/193390/original/file-20171106-1032-7soxbl.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Pradit.Ph/Shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fatbergs – enormous solid masses of oil, grease, wet wipes and other hygiene products that congeal together to cause major blockages – are wreaking havoc on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/sep/12/total-monster-concrete-fatberg-blocks-london-sewage-system">sewers</a> of cities around the world. A 130 tonne specimen described as a “monster” recently caused backups in sewers in <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-41860764">London’s Whitechapel</a>, and the cities of <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4993048/Giant-fatberg-removed-Baltimore-sewer.html">Baltimore</a>, <a href="http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/the-tip-of-a-fatberg-are-you-guilty-of-choking-singapore-s-9349426">Singapore</a> and <a href="http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/new-zealand/2017/11/fatbergs-a-big-problem-for-nz-s-sewers-watercare.html">Dannevirke, New Zealand</a> have also all experienced similar issues in recent weeks.</p>
<p>Fatbergs are <a href="http://researchrepository.ucd.ie/handle/10197/8257">not a recent phenomenon</a>, but have attracted increased attention in recent years as <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-41608863">old sewerage systems</a> struggle to cope with an increased consumption and disposal of everyday products like fats, oils and greases from cooking. This is a particular issue for cities like London with Victorian systems. The visceral disgust that runs alongside the image of fatbergs lingering under the city, and the potential impact they will have on <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/giant-fatberg-threatens-uk-government-2014-11">local flooding</a>, means that they will remain a topic that demands attention. </p>
<p>Strategies are already being put in place in order to <a href="https://corporate.thameswater.co.uk/Media/News-releases/Thames-Water-campaign-bids-to-reduce-sewer-blockages-in-local-hotspots">prevent sewer fatbergs</a>. Current water industry tactics tend to focus on removing sewer blockages and reducing the fats, oils and greases that enter sewers from commercial sources (such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/11/fatbergs-london-restaurants-oil-food-grease-traps">restaurants</a>). But around three quarters of the fats, oils and greases in sewers <a href="https://www.water.org.uk/policy/environment/waste-and-wastewater/fats-oils-and-grease">comes from domestic sources</a>, making household disposal a key priority for change. </p>
<p>Awareness campaigns directed at the public currently focus on <a href="http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/vancouver-ad-campaign-aims-to-prevent-sewer-fatbergs-1.3624335">what people put down the kitchen sink</a>. Current advice is that cooking fats, oils and greases should be disposed through food or solid waste recycling. But there is little information on how we can dispose of other products – like that fatty off milk at the back of the fridge – without pouring it down the sink. The mucky complexities of how people actually deal with fats, oils and greases in the home suggests that the solution might need to be more complex than awareness campaigns. </p>
<p>In a <a href="https://nexusathome.files.wordpress.com/2017/10/fog-and-kitchen-practices-nexus-at-home-report1.pdf">recent report</a> we suggest that changing people’s broader behaviour related to food waste and disposal of fatty products is not going to be easy to change – and that we also need to look beyond the plughole.</p>
<h2>Down the plughole</h2>
<p>Fats, oils and greases are changeable, often smelly, visceral materials. The way we dispose of them is tied to attempts to reduce their impact on our kitchens and in our lives, and this becomes entrenched in our everyday habits and routines. </p>
<p>They can be troublesome materials to handle. The fact that they are liquid at cooking temperatures, and often at room temperature, makes them simpler to dispose of via liquid waste than via solid waste channels, yet their tendency to solidify and accumulate in the specific physical and chemical conditions of drains and sewers makes this disposal highly problematic. Fats, oils and greases are not only difficult to deal with, but many also find it unpleasant.</p>
<p>Evidence from research into <a href="https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/food-waste-9780857852342/">food waste and disposal</a> suggests that when food begins to deteriorate, its material properties – and the bodily reactions caused by its appearance, smell and feel in the people handling it – play an important role in how it is discarded. The more effectively and reliably it can be sealed off and ejected from the home with minimal human contact, the better. </p>
<p><a href="https://nexusathome.wordpress.com/2017/10/06/report-fats-oils-grease-and-kitchen-practices-implications-for-policy-and-intervention/">Our research</a> suggests that if the same is true of householders’ reactions to leftover fats then successful interventions to divert fats, oils and greases from sewers will mean providing an alternative, yet similarly effective, option for quick and seemingly hassle-free disposal than the kitchen sink.</p>
<p>These ideas of disgust, dirt, smell, and convenience are also likely underpinning similar dynamics for the disposal of wetwipes, nappies, and other hygiene products down the toilet rather than the bathroom bin.</p>
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<h2>Beyond the kitchen sink</h2>
<p>But crucially, fats, oils and greases do not end up in our sewers purely due to decisions related to disposal at the kitchen sink. Rather, actions throughout the stages of food provisioning – including shopping, food preparation, cooking, dealing with leftovers, and clearing up – leads to fats, oils and greases entering sewers. </p>
<p>Another way of thinking about the issues is in regards to tracing the numerous decisions that occur in the process of carrying out routine household tasks: moments in which resources are used up and waste is produced. This is broader than just individual behaviours and involves a consideration of all of those moments where waste fat is indirectly or directly produced – such as when we are choosing what to cook; how much oil to use; whether to reuse that rendered meat fat from the Sunday roast in the next meal we cook or discard it.</p>
<p>Insights into what shapes behaviour at these points lead to a range of implications and recommendations for policies and intervention programs. For example, there needs to be a recognition that disposal of products like fats, oils and greases is part of a wider set of kitchen practices that are in turn shaped by wider systems of food provision (supply chains, retail, and so on) as well as waste disposal facilities.</p>
<p>Interventions that influence household behaviour therefore don’t just need to target the household but could involve product innovations that reduce likelihood of excess fat oil and grease production – for example, fryers that use less fat. Retail environments and packaging could be used as means of changing social norms. <a href="http://theconversation.com/to-fight-the-fatbergs-we-have-to-rethink-how-we-treat-sewage-waste-84714">Sewerage systems</a> could be rethought. Effective alternative waste fat and oil disposal infrastructures could be envisioned.</p>
<p>Rather than fatbergs just being seen as a water industry issue there needs to be greater collaboration across sectors (water, energy, food) to deal with the problem. Potential solutions need to range from the level of the household right through to new infrastructures that are experimenting with turning this mucky fatberg problem into <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/08/from-fatberg-to-fuel-the-nausea-inducing-energy-source-that-lurks-beneath-our-feet/">energy</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/shortcuts/2017/sep/19/can-we-turn-the-whitechapel-fatberg-into-biodiesel">biofuel</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/85566/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alison Browne (University of Manchester) and collaborators/co-authors at the University of Sheffield (Matt Watson, Mike Foden, David Evans, Liz Sharp) received funding from the ESRC Nexus Network for this project. Waterwise and Defra also provided feedback on the policy briefing on which this article is based. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mike Foden was employed at the University of Sheffield during this ESRC Nexus Network funded project ‘Nexus at Home’, on which this article is based.</span></em></p>We need to delve into the mucky complexities of fats, oils and greases in and beyond the home.Alison Browne, Lecturer in Human Geography and the Sustainable Consumption Institute, University of ManchesterMike Foden, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Keele UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/336222017-07-04T10:16:30Z2017-07-04T10:16:30ZWaste crime: the multi-million pound swindle<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176210/original/file-20170629-16091-1wjxdp5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/waste-dumped-countryside-illegal-social-issue-144116971">urbanbuzz/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Britain and other developed countries, disposing of unwanted things is taken for granted. There is (lots of) legislation in place to ensure waste is collected, transported and treated safely without having an impact on either health or the environment. But waste management is a costly business, increasingly seen by organised criminals and opportunists alike as an easy way to make quick money. </p>
<p>Two recent instances of waste crime, in my local area, show how this can happen. In the first, a deserted factory, used for the illegal storage of 5,000 tonnes of partially treated waste <a href="http://www.lichfieldmercury.co.uk/lichfield-gkn-fire-started-deliberately-crossfield-road-inferno-at-trent-valley-a5127-burton-road/story-30390690-detail/story.html">was deliberately set alight</a> using an accelerant. It contained combustible materials, such as plastics and decomposing food, making it particularly fire prone. The police investigation looking for the source of the waste, as well as the reason it was set alight, is ongoing. </p>
<p>Illegal waste dumps such as this are becoming an <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/waste-crime-targeted-in-environment-agency-day-of-action">increasing problem</a>, both in open countryside and hidden in rented buildings due to the potential income available from these crimes. Estimates from waste industry experts put illegal profits from this one operation somewhere between £400,000 to £500,000 for the cost of just two weeks rental on the building. </p>
<p>This kind of thing appears to be a victimless crime, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/sep/22/ea-chief-waste-is-the-new-narcotics">but it isn’t</a>. The building owner in the case of the illegal storage fire (who appears not to have been involved) faces losses. And we are all victims: burning this illegally stored waste has polluting impacts on both local air quality and local watercourses. The incineration of waste is one of <a href="http://www.wrap.org.uk/sites/files/wrap/8_O_And_EFW_Guidance_WID.pdf">the most highly regulated</a> waste management processes, and rightly so. </p>
<p>Fire services managed to control the fire, so estimate that only 10-15% of the waste present was burnt. This leaves the problem of moving what remains to proper treatment facilities – who pays for this? Or the cost of the 65 fire service personnel it took to control the fire? </p>
<p>In the second incident, <a href="https://lichfielddc.gov.uk/Council/Press-office/News-releases/2017-news-releases/6-Jun-2017/Council-appeals-for-witnesses-after-asbestos-fly-tipping.aspx">a large quantity of asbestos was dumped</a>. Asbestos <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-health-threat-from-asbestos-is-not-a-thing-of-the-past-52060">was widely used</a> in the UK in buildings for insulation, flooring and roofing until it was discovered that it can cause <a href="https://www.blf.org.uk/support-for-you/asbestos-related-conditions/what-is-asbestos">serious lung conditions</a>, including cancer, asbestosis and pleural disease. It is now banned in the UK, but is still present in buildings built before 2000. </p>
<p>The removal, transport and disposal of asbestos is highly dangerous, heavily regulated and consequently expensive. This makes it attractive to criminals. Charging high rates for removal and dumping for free generates an easy profit. Again, wider society is the victim: there are <a href="http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos/dangerous.htm">serious health implications</a> for anyone coming into contact with this waste, including the people that dumped it. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176214/original/file-20170629-16051-12t8b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176214/original/file-20170629-16051-12t8b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176214/original/file-20170629-16051-12t8b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176214/original/file-20170629-16051-12t8b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176214/original/file-20170629-16051-12t8b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176214/original/file-20170629-16051-12t8b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176214/original/file-20170629-16051-12t8b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176214/original/file-20170629-16051-12t8b82.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Asbestos is a public health hazard and must be properly disposed of.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/worker-environmental-asbestos-removal-399266137?src=0gB54O4gyYju0_PCQb6bnw-1-1">microlors/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bill for clearing this incident will be paid by local council tax payers. Nationally, clearing <a href="http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/fly-tippingandthelaw/2315">fly-tipping</a> (leaving waste on land that doesn’t have a licence to accept it) costs tax-payers <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/595773/Flytipping_201516_statistical_release.pdf">in excess of £200m a year</a>. Clearance of fly-tipping on private land falls to the landowner, be that a private individual or charity such as the Woodland Trust, who report an annual clearance bill <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/jan/03/woodland-trust-sees-worst-year-for-flytipping-on-record">in excess of £350,000</a>.</p>
<h2>Easy business</h2>
<p>These waste crimes are taking place in plain sight. There are underlying causes to these crimes, which are allowing waste crime to flourish. Correct, legal waste disposal is expensive, with landfill and incineration charges now <a href="http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/comparing-cost-alternative-waste-treatment-options-gate-fees-report-2016">around £100 per tonne</a>. This is why the profits of these crimes are high. </p>
<p>It seems that the traditional deterrents for these crimes, <a href="http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/SN05672">fines and prison sentences,</a>
are not working, or are not tough enough. It is too easy for criminals to obtain documentation that makes their operations appear compliant. For example, waste carrier’s registration and waste exemptions, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/waste-carrier-or-broker-registration">can be easily and quickly obtained online</a>. These make waste operations - on the surface - appear legal.</p>
<p>It is also too easy for criminals to gain access to waste. On a small scale “scrap men” informally remove white goods and other metal objects from housing estates across the country. They have the implied consent of the householder who leaves unwanted items out and does not report their disappearance as a crime. Parts of these items which don’t have a resale value <a href="http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/council-warns-over-rise-in-fridge-flytipping/">are often fly-tipped</a> meaning the householder also, unknowingly, <a href="https://www.nuneatonandbedworth.gov.uk/info/20007/street_cleaning/170/fly_tipping/2">commits a crime themselves</a>. There are more complaints to the local authority <a href="http://www.lichfieldmercury.co.uk/lichfield-scrap-metal-collector-prosecuted-noise/story-20349089-detail/story.html">about the noise these collectors make</a> with their bugles and loudspeaker appeals for “any old iron” than about the removal of items.</p>
<h2>Outright theft</h2>
<p>These informal or bogus collectors do not restrict themselves to scrap metal iron items. Used, unwanted textiles are worthwhile waste stream targets too <a href="http://www.letsrecycle.com/prices/textiles/">because of the high prices</a> they command in both secondhand markets and as a scrap. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176217/original/file-20170629-16083-4qzudh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176217/original/file-20170629-16083-4qzudh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/176217/original/file-20170629-16083-4qzudh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176217/original/file-20170629-16083-4qzudh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176217/original/file-20170629-16083-4qzudh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176217/original/file-20170629-16083-4qzudh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176217/original/file-20170629-16083-4qzudh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/176217/original/file-20170629-16083-4qzudh.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Theft from community clothing banks is becoming all too common.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Clothing_bank,_High_Road,_Whetstone.JPG">Philafrenzy/Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Here, different tactics are employed, from the small-scale individual “fishing” for <a href="http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/clothes-bank-raid-stirling-store-3843562">the contents of textile banks</a> in car parks (<a href="http://www.chesterstandard.co.uk/news/108525/callous-thieves-raid-charity-clothing-bank.aspx">with some fatalities</a>) to the organised collection of bulk unwanted textiles from households. This is done either by the distribution <a href="https://www.charityretail.org.uk/house-to-house-collections/">of bogus collection bags</a> to all households in a defined area, or the kerbside collection of bags distributed by a reputable charity before their own collection teams can retrieve them. Either way, it deprives honest charities of a much-needed funding source. </p>
<p>On a larger scale, the offer of cheap waste collections can be quite tempting. Waste is removed, the service paid for and then the waste is fly-tipped or stored at illegal, unregulated, waste sites leading to an immediate profit at a cost to us all. Assets of almost £1m have <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/payback-for-illegal-waste-crimes">recently been recovered</a> from one such waste crime through the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/29/contents">Proceeds of Crime Act</a>.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/environment-agency-takes-a-stand-on-illegal-waste">Environment Agency and local councils</a> respond to these crimes when they take place. They also work with other agencies, such as HM Revenue and Customs and the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency to “disrupt” waste crime. Householders should make use of local council waste collections and check their local council’s website for <a href="https://www.lichfielddc.gov.uk/Residents/Environment/Recycling-bins-and-waste/Order-a-bulky-waste-collection.aspx">information on the disposal of larger items</a>. Bogus collections of textiles can be avoided by checking with your local council’s <a href="https://www.tradingstandards.uk/consumers/support-advice">trading standards team</a>, or checking the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/find-charity-information">charity register</a>. </p>
<p>Across the UK illegal waste management practices are now a multi-million pound problem, with some serious underlying problems that need to be addressed. Apart from the associated criminality, fly-tipping damages the environment, poses risks to human health here and abroad, undermines legitimate businesses, reduces tax income so others have to pay more, and just looks really ugly. With the potential for easy, high profits - waste crime is joining the ranks of organised crime alongside drugs and human trafficking, cyber-crime and child exploitation and this has wider implications for society.</p>
<p>We must remember that many environmental regulations have been put in place as a response to serious incidents and resist the prospect of further deregulation. This may stand to cost us in terms of damage not only to the economy and environment – but also to human and public health.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/33622/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christine Cole receives funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council as part of her work for the Centre for Industrial Energy, Materials and Products at Nottingham Trent University (grant reference EP/N022645/1).</span></em></p>Waste crime has the potential for easy, high profits and as such is set to join ranks with drugs and human trafficking.Christine Cole, Research Fellow, Architecture, Design and the Built Environment, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/608302016-06-13T14:28:53Z2016-06-13T14:28:53ZRubbish for Remain or Bins for Brexit? How the EU affects your garbage<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/126358/original/image-20160613-18068-15dgq0x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C2038%2C1315&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Two rubbish options.
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/nicohogg/357190163/in/photolist-xyGc6-4SWBXL-aTiqKi-2VZyE-dgYi9-Md41P-4nTKn5-4sbQDN-8giHP-fsmA67-6BNpAf-DQfTPq-8nvEyn-hKmcdQ-61XTmU-5oEpTW-bMHk1R-pnUsSL-6QZQcm-6fSNzy-3kmVG-ctUBAJ-s69VdY-jZscpv-5iTXqc-zgnKi-ek1qy1-6tZqSc-6fSPSw-qtsp3K-h7fLdm-r15thD-ffXCHy-pyLFtx-c6nryY-6fSX4Y-eiXVA-pcXoZV-9VyL1o-aBB8zi-6fNEPP-fMp1x-46RBa-6fNFPt-6fNCrV-qUinuK-ufwUrW-7XiQJY-69rrDR-7CxaV">Nico Hogg</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the central arguments for people campaigning for the UK to leave the European Union is that outside the EU, Britain can makes its own decisions and thrive without laws being dictated from Brussels.</p>
<p>While the debate is playing out between high-profile figures (we’ve even seen president Barack Obama wade in), it’s the micro-level issues that cause the biggest furore. Take, for example, the British obsession with the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/2453204/Bent-banana-and-curved-cucumber-rules-dropped-by-EU.html">bendiness of bananas</a> (a subject on which Brussels apparently has a lot to say, but <a href="http://www.europarl.org.uk/en/media/euromyths/bendybananas.html">not as much as people think</a>) or whether or not <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10461548">eggs can be sold by the dozen</a>. </p>
<p>So what would Brexit mean for that most mundane, but most important, of household items – your bin? Would leaving cause rubbish to pile up on the street or would Britain be liberated from rubbish EU regulation on waste?</p>
<h2>The role of the EU</h2>
<p>For the average Brexiter, the EU’s long-term interest in what we throw away probably sounds as interfering as <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/politics/1262214/eu-debate-leaves-15-of-brits-believing-brussels-has-banned-bent-bananas-to-busty-barmaids/">a ban on busty barmaids</a>. It conjures up images of refuse collection trucks manned by Brussels bureaucrats, measuring the size and dimensions of your organic waste output.</p>
<p>It is true that the EU plays a major part in your rubbish – but not quite to this extent. In 1975, it introduced a <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-are-some-european-cities-better-than-others-at-dealing-with-garbage-56382">waste hierarchy</a>, a prioritisation of various activities – prevention, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, disposal – that has shaped the thinking behind the management of waste. </p>
<p>And indeed, the UK’s waste management legislation is mostly <a href="http://www.ciwm-journal.co.uk/might-brexit-mean-industry/">based on EU law</a> – in particular the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/landfill_index.htm">Landfill Directive</a> and the Greenhouse Gas Emissions Allowance Trading Directive. But directives only state an overall objective. How member states did that was up to them – hardly a loss of sovereignty. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125979/original/image-20160609-7096-1nd2l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/125979/original/image-20160609-7096-1nd2l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125979/original/image-20160609-7096-1nd2l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125979/original/image-20160609-7096-1nd2l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125979/original/image-20160609-7096-1nd2l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125979/original/image-20160609-7096-1nd2l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/125979/original/image-20160609-7096-1nd2l6l.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A recycling nudge in London.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/otrops/6905547062/in/photolist-bwdJyf-7Pr5Fu-ed7SPu-2yGQS-5z2Bqq-psiH5J-psiEZ1-paQgRV-adE17j-adBbsR-6cX1Bn-6d22t9-psiGjW-5yXiGZ-5yXjgp-haeKNg-9Qs2cc-5g8Hp9-7W5YQa-7Pn46g-7Pr7z9-9eiqsi-7Pn5KP-7Pr81J-adB634-9QuQVd-xAURm-9QuQFU-5V57Cp-5yXjcn-79StMo-4K3seZ-5ZSWKx-6d1YD3-5z2BC1-eS3g7S-5V9Xhq-5yXj1t-6cWXBi-paQgoa-5yXjei-52bPuk-6d27Wj-paQCXJ-paQgzc-5yXiL8-5yXjnD-paQBLf-ps4844-5yXiF2">Jeff Van Campen</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Landfill Directive introduced mandatory targets for all member states to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste. Each country had to produce a national strategy on how it would meet these goals. The UK’s included its own <a href="https://www.foe.co.uk/sites/default/files/downloads/eu_l%20andfill_directive.pdf">recycling targets</a> for local authorities. The national government could face a <a href="http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/327721/uk_likely_to_miss_landfill_targets.html">fine</a> if it were to fail to meets its EU targets. It would probably pass the cost of any fine onto local authorities, who are responsible for <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1990/43/contents">making sure our rubbish is collected</a>, recycled, incinerated or thrown away. That, in turn, would affect local spending on other services, such as schools and libraries. </p>
<p>But why do we even need an EU-wide approach for dealing with waste? Surely we just sort our rubbish into the right bin and it is taken away. The UK <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/exporting-waste-uk-recyling-resource-scarcity-energy-security">exports tonnes of recyclable metals, paper and plastic and refuse-derived fuel</a>. More than £750,000 of it goes to other EU countries. That will become more expensive with tariff barriers. </p>
<p>So there is a financial and political incentive for the UK to make sure it meets waste reduction targets. The good news is that, so far, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-meets-2010-landfill-directive-target-and-responds-to-landfill-consultations">it has</a>.</p>
<h2>Stay or go?</h2>
<p>Meeting EU targets has not been easy. But it has pushed the UK to come up with radical policies. For example, in 1996, the Conservative government brought in a <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/briefing-papers/SN00237.pdf">landfill tax</a> – a per-tonne levy on the people or businesses who run landfill sites. This was a significant and ambitious development – the first environmental tax to be introduced in the UK. It stands in stark contrast to the current government’s view on <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/conservative/10399287/David-Cameron-pledges-to-cut-green-taxes-next-year-despite-Lib-Dem-objections.html">green taxes</a>. </p>
<p>In 2003, the Labour government made it <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2003/29/contents">compulsory</a> for local councils to provide a household collection for recyclable waste. It also introduced a landfill allowance trading system. Each local council had a limit on how much waste it could send to landfill and could buy or sell allowances as required. And in 2008, the UK became the first country to have <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2008/27/contents">mandatory carbon budgets</a> and gave local councils the power to charge for household rubbish collections so that they could pay incentives for recycling. </p>
<p>In many ways, you could argue that being part of the EU pushes the UK to be the best version of itself as a nation of recyclers. The UK opposes <a href="http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/eu-and-uk-at-odds-over-recycling-targets/">a common EU recycling rate</a> target of 65%. That said, even with the EU watching, many member states are struggling to meet existing targets.</p>
<p>If the UK left the EU, it would no longer be bound by the mandatory targets in the Landfill Directive. And there are signs that it would move away from pressing for tough targets.</p>
<p>Between 2000 and 2010, the recycling rate increased from <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/255610/Statistics_Notice1.pdf">11% to 43%</a>, but has since started to level off. There is real concern that the UK won’t meet the 2020 and 2030 targets – even with the EU watching.</p>
<p>The UK government has already said that it plans to be less involved in particular areas of <a href="http://www.edie.net/library/Defras-stepping-back-from-waste-letter---one-year-on/6528">waste policy</a>, because it sees businesses and households as more able to take the lead. It also wants local councils to be more self-financing, which means relying more on council tax and partnerships. <a href="http://www.businessgreen.com/bg/analysis/2450150/higher-risks-less-influence-what-brexit-could-mean-for-uk-environmental-policy">Without EU leadership</a>, it would be up to the industry and local councils to make sure waste is collected and to encourage recycling. </p>
<p>The inverse of this argument is that without the UK government’s involvement, councils and waste management companies may be more motivated by the market to come up with more <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/27/how-councils-are-using-clever-and-innovative-ideas-to-increase-recycling-rates">innovative recycling collection</a>.</p>
<p>Nevertheless, there seems to be a consensus that <a href="http://www.letsrecycle.com/news/latest-news/waste-sector-debate-over-eu-brexit-begins-heating-up/">leaving the EU will not be good</a> for the sector.</p>
<p>Brexit won’t see your bin collection disappear – it’s been around since <a href="http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fass/projects/esf/bins.htm">the 18th century</a>. But there is a chance that you might have to pay more for your bendy banana skins to be picked up if the UK does leave the EU.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/60830/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Pravin Jeyaraj is has previously volunteered with and donated to Britain Stronger In Europe.. </span></em></p>Let’s be honest, you want assurances that someone is going to take away all those campaign leaflets on June 24.Pravin Jeyaraj, Fellow, Law and Theory Lab, University of WestminsterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/500452015-11-19T11:17:50Z2015-11-19T11:17:50ZTalking heads: what toilets and sewers tell us about ancient Roman sanitation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102339/original/image-20151118-14191-5yzen5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C460%2C4073%2C2379&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ruin of a second-century public toilet in Roman Ostia.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/7870818466">Fr Lawrence Lew, OP</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>I’ve spent an awful lot of time in Roman sewers – enough to earn me the nickname “Queen of Latrines” from my friends. The Etruscans laid the first underground sewers in the city of Rome around 500 BC. These cavernous tunnels below the city’s streets were built of finely carved stones, and the Romans were happy to utilize them when they took over the city. Such structures then became the norm in many cities throughout the Roman world. </p>
<p>Focusing on life in ancient Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Ostia, I’m deeply impressed by the brilliant engineers who designed these underground marvels and the magnificent architecture that masks their functional purpose. Sewer galleries didn’t run under every street, nor service every area. But in some cities, including Rome itself, the length and breadth of the main sewer, the Cloaca Maxima, rivals the extent of the main sewer lines in many of today’s cities. We shouldn’t assume, though, that Roman toilets, sewers and water systems were constructed with our same modern sanitary goals in mind.</p>
<p>The streets of a Roman city would have been cluttered with dung, vomit, pee, shit, garbage, filthy water, rotting vegetables, animal skins and guts, and other refuse from various shops that lined the sidewalks. We moderns think of urban sewers as the means to remove such filth from streets – and of course flush away human waste that goes down our toilets.</p>
<p>Researching Roman urban infrastructure for my new book <a href="http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/T-5298.html">The Archaeology of Sanitation in Roman Italy</a> made me question whether the Romans shared the same vision. The archaeological evidence suggests that their finely constructed sewer systems were more about drainage of standing water than the removal of dirty debris. And Romans’ sense of cleanliness and privacy around bathroom matters was quite different from our tender modern sensibilities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102334/original/image-20151118-14183-1m8yeu7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102334/original/image-20151118-14183-1m8yeu7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102334/original/image-20151118-14183-1m8yeu7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102334/original/image-20151118-14183-1m8yeu7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102334/original/image-20151118-14183-1m8yeu7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102334/original/image-20151118-14183-1m8yeu7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102334/original/image-20151118-14183-1m8yeu7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102334/original/image-20151118-14183-1m8yeu7.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Inside a tunnel of Rome’s sewer, the Cloaca Maxima.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Sewers managed excess water more than waste</h2>
<p>The Cloaca Maxima in Rome was not part of a <a href="https://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/book.asp?isbn=9780300101867">master plan to sanitize the city</a>. Its purpose was removing water that pooled on the city’s uneven streets and draining water from low-lying areas when the adjacent Tiber River flooded, which happened quite frequently. Its main function was drainage – and what it drained ran right back into Rome’s major drinking supply before the aqueducts, the Tiber.</p>
<p>Roman sewers moved filthy water away from where it hindered cleanliness, economic growth, urban development and even industry. My work in the sewers of Herculaneum and Pompeii – both buried by the pyroclastic flow caused by Mount Vesuvius’ volcanic eruption in AD 79 – has brought me to the same conclusion.</p>
<p>At the bottom of one sewer under a street in Herculaneum, the first excavators found an <a href="http://www.quartoknows.com/books/9780711231429/Herculaneum.html">ancient deposit of hardened sludge</a> measuring about 1.35 meters high. No amount of water, however fast-flowing, would have been able to remove that. Several ancient sources state that Roman sewers needed manual cleaning from time to time, a job often done by city slaves or <a href="https://archive.org/stream/letterswithengli02plinuoft/letterswithengli02plinuoft_djvu.txt">prisoners</a>. I’d argue these urban sewer systems provided minimal sanitary benefits overall.</p>
<h2>Plenty of toilets, few sewer hookups</h2>
<p>Public and private toilets were sprinkled throughout the city of Pompeii. But despite the city’s sewer infrastructure, virtually none of these toilets had sewer connections. We have similar evidence for ancient Herculaneum.</p>
<p>In fact, almost every private house in these cities, and many apartment houses in Ostia, had private, usually one-seater, toilets not connected to the main sewer lines.</p>
<p>And these cesspit toilets were often situated in the kitchen, where food was prepared! The comforting smells from a hearty stew would have mingled with the gross odors from the nearby open cesspit. Collected waste was either sold to farmers for fertilizer or used in <a href="http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Columella/de_Re_Rustica/1*.html">household gardens</a> – which must have made for some pretty stinky garden parties from time to time.</p>
<p>According to Ulpian’s Digest, written between AD 211 and 222, connections to the sewers from private dwellings certainly were legal. So why didn’t property owners hook up to the public sewer lines?</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102332/original/image-20151118-14214-1pedy5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102332/original/image-20151118-14214-1pedy5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102332/original/image-20151118-14214-1pedy5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102332/original/image-20151118-14214-1pedy5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102332/original/image-20151118-14214-1pedy5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=895&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102332/original/image-20151118-14214-1pedy5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1125&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102332/original/image-20151118-14214-1pedy5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1125&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102332/original/image-20151118-14214-1pedy5t.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1125&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A private toilet under the stairs in Herculaneum’s Casa del Gran Portale.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One reason may be tied to that fact that Roman sewer openings had no traps. One never could be sure what might climb out of an open sewer pipe and into your house.</p>
<p>We have at least one dramatic ancient story that illustrates the danger of hooking your house up to a public sewer in the first or second century AD. The <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0590%3Abook%3D1%3Achapter%3D13">author Aelian tells us</a> about a wealthy Iberian merchant in the city of Puteoli; every night a giant octopus swam into the sewer from the sea and proceeded up through the house drain in the toilet to eat all the pickled fish stored in his well-stocked pantry.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102408/original/image-20151118-14217-15dco8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102408/original/image-20151118-14217-15dco8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102408/original/image-20151118-14217-15dco8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102408/original/image-20151118-14217-15dco8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102408/original/image-20151118-14217-15dco8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102408/original/image-20151118-14217-15dco8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102408/original/image-20151118-14217-15dco8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102408/original/image-20151118-14217-15dco8.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Broken connections in a Herculaneum house’s terracotta downspout within the wall would have caused stinky leaks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Adding to the stench of Roman life, my close examination of ancient plumbing found that many downpipes from house toilets on upper floors would have suffered serious leakage inside the walls as well as oozing onto the outside of the walls too. The fittings of these terracotta downpipes loosened over time, and their contents would have caused stink everywhere.</p>
<p>I was able to identify at least 15 upper-story toilets at Pompeii and others at Herculaneum and elsewhere. In some cases, I <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Roman_Toilets.html?id=bF1jXwAACAAJ">obtained proof through scientific testing</a> for urine and/or excrement that the spillage was indeed human waste from these pipes. </p>
<h2>Public toilets held their own hazards</h2>
<p>Even public latrines – multi-seater toilets that were almost always connected to the main sewer lines of a city – posed serious threats to users. Don’t be fooled by the clean white marble and open-air sunniness of the reconstructed ruins we can see today; most Roman public toilets were dark, dank and dirty, and often situated in small spaces. Those who could “hold it” long enough to return to their own houses with their own cesspit toilets certainly would have done so.</p>
<p>One public toilet at Ostia, with its revolving doors for access and fountain basin for cleaning up, could handle more than 20 clients at a time. I have found no evidence that Romans had to pay to use public toilets, and we really don’t know who managed or cleaned them, apart from the possibility of public slaves. To our modern eyes there was almost a complete lack of privacy in such facilities; but bear in mind that Roman men would have been wearing tunics or togas, which would have provided more screening than a modern man would enjoy with pants that have to be pulled down. Perhaps a bigger problem for today’s standards of cleanliness: the Roman version of toilet paper in many cases was a communal sponge on a stick.</p>
<p>Even worse, these public latrines were notorious for terrifying customers when flames exploded from their seat openings. These were caused by gas explosions of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and methane (CH4) that were rank as well as frightening. Customers also had to worry about rats and other small vermin threatening to bite their bottoms. And then there was the perceived threat of demons that the Romans believed inhabited these black holes leading to the mysterious underbelly of the city.</p>
<p>One late Roman writer tells a particularly exciting story about such a demon. A certain Dexianos was sitting on the privy in the middle of the night, the text tells us, when a demon raised itself in front of him with savage ferocity. As soon as Dexianos saw the “hellish and insane” demon, he “became stunned, seized with fear and trembling, and covered with sweat.” Such superstition would provide another good reason for avoiding sewer connections in private house toilets.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102328/original/image-20151118-14202-6gj6vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102328/original/image-20151118-14202-6gj6vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/102328/original/image-20151118-14202-6gj6vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102328/original/image-20151118-14202-6gj6vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102328/original/image-20151118-14202-6gj6vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102328/original/image-20151118-14202-6gj6vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102328/original/image-20151118-14202-6gj6vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/102328/original/image-20151118-14202-6gj6vv.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=712&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Goddess Fortuna on the wall of a the Suburban Baths in Pompeii.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Going to a public toilet was definitely a dangerous business, so it is no wonder that the Goddess Fortuna often appears as a kind of “guardian angel” on the walls of toilets. We don’t tend to put religious shrines in our toilets, but we find them again and again in both public and private toilets in the Roman world.</p>
<p>One graffito on a side street in Pompeii directs a warning at a toilet-user himself: “Crapper Beware the Evil”… of crapping on the street? Of putting your bare bottom on an open toilet hole for fear of biting demons? Of the ill health you will feel if you do not move your bowels well? We’ll never know for sure, but these are likely possibilities, I think.</p>
<p>When we look at the evidence for Roman sanitary practices, both textual and archaeological, it becomes obvious that their perspectives were quite different from ours. Gaining a better understanding of Roman life on their streets, in their public spaces, and in their private dwellings shows us that they were in the early stages of developing systems that we’ve adopted – with upgrades – for our own problems with sanitation and clean water today.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/50045/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Archaeological and textual detective work is filling in some information about how ancient Romans used and thought about their sewers thousands of years ago.Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow, Professor of Classical Studies, Brandeis UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.