Australia’s recycling ecosystem has been rocked by China’s withdrawal from mass gleaning. I was disturbed and did some digging, but it’s a tough subject to penetrate. By sheer coincidence, American academic environmentalist Kate O’Neill has just put out a definitive examination of the topic in “Waste.” Covering the mechanics, economics, and politics of a baffling global subject of huge importance, O’Neill somehow manages to juggle myriad perspectives and yet produce a readable and rather concise book. Reading it, I realized my thinking had been shallow. Waste can be a bad or a good, an environmental blight or a vital resource. Anyone with the slightest interest in this accelerating issue would be well served by a keen read of “Waste.”
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