Scientists' warning against the society of waste

Isabel Marín-Beltrán; Federico Demaria; Claudia Ofelio; Luis M Serra; Antonio Turiel; William J Ripple; Sharif A Mukul; Maria Clara Costa

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151359

Back

Scientists' warning against the society of waste

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Scientists' warning against the society of waste

Isabel Marín-Beltrán, Federico Demaria, Claudia Ofelio, Luis M Serra, Antonio Turiel, William J Ripple, Sharif A Mukul and Maria Clara Costa

Science of the Total Environment, Vol.811, pp.1-14

2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151359

PMID: 34742963

Files and links (2)

pdf

Scientists' warning against the society of waste1.29 MBDownload View

Published Version Open Access CC BY-NC-ND V4.0

url

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151359View

Published Version Open

Abstract

Degrowth

Environmental justice

Natural resources

Overconsumption

Social metabolism

Sustainability

Waste

The metabolism of contemporary industrialized societies, that is their energy and material flows, leads to the overconsumption and waste of natural resources, two factors often disregarded in the global ecological equation. In this Discussion article, we examine the amount of natural resources that is increasingly being consumed and wasted by humanity, and propose solutions to reverse this pattern. Since the beginning of the 20th century, societies, especially from industrialized countries, have been wasting resources in different ways. On one hand, the metabolism of industrial societies relies on non-renewable resources. On the other hand, yearly, we directly waste or mismanage around 78% of the total water withdrawn, 49% of the food produced, 31% of the energy produced, 85% of ores and 26% of non-metallic minerals extracted, respectively. As a consequence, natural resources are getting depleted and ecosystems polluted, leading to irreversible environmental changes, biological loss and social conflicts. To reduce the anthropogenic footprint in the planet, and live in harmony with other species and ourselves, we suggest to shift the current economic model based on infinite growth and reduce inequality between and within countries, following a degrowth strategy in industrialized countries. Public education to reduce superfluous consumption is also necessary. In addition, we propose a set of technological strategies to improve the management of natural resources towards circular economies that, like ecosystems, rely only upon renewable resources. •We present a holistic analysis of anthropogenic waste production and its impacts. •Each year humans waste more than 30% of most natural resources. •Resource consumption is decoupled from population growth and unevenly distributed. •Consequences of the Society of Waste include major environmental and social impacts. •Degrowth and circular strategies are proposed to reduce the human footprint.

Details

Title: Scientists' warning against the society of waste
Authors: Isabel Marín-Beltrán (Corresponding Author) - University of Algarve
Federico Demaria (Author) - Universitat de Barcelona
Claudia Ofelio (Author) - University of Hamburg
Luis M Serra (Author) - Universidad de Zaragoza
Antonio Turiel (Author) - Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas
William J Ripple (Author) - Oregon State University
Sharif A Mukul (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Tropical Forests and People Research Centre
Maria Clara Costa (Author) - University of Algarve
Publication details: Science of the Total Environment, Vol.811, pp.1-14
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date published: 2022
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.151359
ISSN: 1879-1026
PMID: 34742963
Copyright note: © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
Organisation Unit: Tropical Forests and People Research Centre; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Science, Technology and Engineering
Language: English
Record Identifier: 99591308802621
Output Type: Journal article