Waste Trading among Rich Nations: Building a New Theory of Environmental RegulationWhen most people think of hazardous waste trading, they think of egregious dumping by U.S. and European firms on poor countries in Africa, Latin America, and the Caribbean. But over 80 percent of the waste trade takes place between industrialized nations and is legal by domestic and international standards. In Waste Trading among Rich Nations, Kate O'Neill asks why some industrialized nations voluntarily import such wastes in the absence of pressing economic need. She focuses on Britain as an importer and Germany as an exporter and also looks at France, Australia, and Japan. According to O'Neill, most important in determining whether an industrialized democracy imports waste are two aspects of its regulatory system. The first is the structure of the regulatory process—how powers and responsibilities are allocated among different agencies and levels of government—and the structure of the hazardous waste disposal industry. The second is what O'Neill calls the "style" of environmental regulation, in particular access to the policy process and mode of implementation. Hazardous waste management is in crisis in most industrialized countries and is becoming increasingly controversial in international negotiations. O'Neill not only examines waste trading empirically but also develops a theoretical model of comparative regulation that can be used to establish links between domestic and international environmental politics. |
Contents
Hazardous Waste Trading among OECD Countries A Comparative Approach | 1 |
Out of the Backyard Hazardous Waste Management as an International Issue | 25 |
An Institutional Explanation of the Waste Trade | 51 |
Great Britain Risk Acceptance and the Politics of Flexibility Diffusion and Closure | 75 |
Germany Technocracy Federalism and Risk Aversion | 113 |
The Waste Trade and Environmental Regulation in France Australia and Japan | 147 |
Conclusion | 185 |
Notes | 219 |
References | 257 |
Index | 281 |
Other editions - View all
Waste Trading Among Rich Nations: Building a New Theory of Environmental ... Kate O'Neill No preview available - 2000 |
Waste Trading Among Rich Nations: Building a New Theory of Environmental ... Kate O'Neill No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
agencies agreements analysis argue Australia authorities Basel Convention Britain British chapter costs country's developed countries discussion disposal facilities domestic dumping ecological modernization economic effects ENDS Report envi Environment environmental groups environmental issues environmental movement environmental policy environmental protection environmental regulation Europe European example exports France Germany Germany's global Green Party Greenpeace hazardous waste disposal hazardous waste management Haznews Héritier import hazardous wastes import wastes importation of hazardous importation of wastes incineration industrialized countries institutional international environmental Japan Länder landfill legislation Linnerooth mode of policy monitoring North Rhine-Westfalia OECD OECD countries policy community policy implementation policy process policymaking political pollution control practices precautionary principle problems recycling regime regulatory structure regulatory style regulatory systems relations responsibilities risk role ronmental Skea societal special wastes system of environmental tion tonnes toxic transboundary transfrontier movements Vogel waste disposal firms waste disposal industry waste importation waste trade Weale Weidner Wynne