He reminds us that there was a flourishing waste processing industry decades before the major environmental statutes were enacted. And even today, a lot of waste, particularly industrial by-products, is sold for processing around the world. . Yet, as western nations grew wealthier, leftovers became more visible. Naturally, this increased the levels of pollution. Second, the market for wastes and byproducts was not allowed to work to the extent that it could.
Wealthy societies have the capability and frequently the desire to dispose of waste.
They have the wealth to pay people to cart off leftovers rather than seeking payment from the waste disposers, as poorer people do. Under a market system, as societies grow wealthier, this should lead to markets for the disposal of waste in landfills or incinerators. Bypassing all evidence of how the private sector had been performing this service economically, the argument was made that private markets couldn t provide this service. Without the disciplining influence of the market forces, public agencies became inefficient and began to consider waste a problem, not a potential resource. So efforts were made to regulate or reduce the generation of waste.