waste management Archives - State of the Planet

New York City’s Food Waste and the Circular Economy

Food waste provides an opportunity for New York City to place itself on the cutting edge of waste recycling.

by |December 5, 2022

Mining Garbage and the Circular Economy

The construction of waste management and material mining facilities is essential for the development of a circular economy, and the evolution toward a circular economy is a prerequisite for sustainable cities.

by |March 28, 2022

An Environmental Agenda for NYC’s New Mayor

Our new mayor should let our environmental actions do the talking for the next eight years. It would be a refreshing change.

by |December 6, 2021

The Necessity of Recycling

Without recycling, there can be no circular economy. Without a circular economy, we cannot build environmentally sustainable cities. Without sustainable cities, we’d better start looking for another planet.

by |July 26, 2021
Bags of trash and recycling spill out onto a New York City street.

New York City’s Trash Dilemmas — and Opportunities

A conversation with Professor Steven Cohen on how to make New York City’s waste management less noxious and more equitable.

by Russ Kuhner |April 27, 2021

Symposium Will Discuss How Businesses Can Lead on Climate

An event on March 6 will bring together representatives from the world’s most powerful industries to discuss the role of business in addressing today’s urgent sustainability challenges.

by |February 27, 2020
landfill with tractor on top

The Aftermath of China’s Waste Ban

The initial ban created a worldwide headache for scrap managers. The new version of the ban will surely lead to migraines.

by |March 11, 2019

What’s in Our Waste Bins?

Sustainability Management student Asami Tanimoto dug through the university’s trash to discover what we’re throwing out, and how we can do better.

by |November 5, 2018
plastic

What Do We Do About Plastics?

We need local policies to encourage better waste management, more recycling and less use of plastics in the first place.

by |April 23, 2018

Microbeads, Marine Debris, Regulation and the Precautionary Principle

It is clear that the hunger for economic growth and wealth pushes business and governments to ignore environmental impacts that are considered an inevitable byproduct of development. But this fails to account for the costs that will inevitably be borne when the damage must be cleaned up.

by |December 28, 2015