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Toxicants, entanglement, and mitigation in New England’s emerging circular economy for food waste

Author

Listed:
  • Cindy Isenhour

    (University of Maine)

  • Michael Haedicke

    (University of Maine)

  • Brieanne Berry

    (University of Maine)

  • Jean MacRae

    (University of Maine)

  • Travis Blackmer

    (University of Maine)

  • Skyler Horton

    (University of Maine)

Abstract

Drawing on research with food waste recycling facilities in New England, this paper explores a fundamental tension between the eco-modernist logics of the circular economy and the reality of contemporary waste streams. Composting and digestion are promoted as key solutions to food waste, due to their ability to return nutrients to agricultural soils. However, our work suggests that food waste processors increasingly find themselves responsible for policing boundaries between distinct “material” and “biological” systems as imagined by the architects of the circular economy—boundaries penetrable by toxicants. This responsibility creates significant problems for processors due to the regulatory, educational, and structural barriers documented in this research. This paper contributes to scholarship which suggests the need to rethink the modernist logics of the circular economy and to recognize the realities of entangled material and biological systems. More specifically, we argue that if circularity is the goal, policy needs to recognize the barriers food waste processors face and concentrate circularity efforts further upstream to ensure fair, just, and safe circular food systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Cindy Isenhour & Michael Haedicke & Brieanne Berry & Jean MacRae & Travis Blackmer & Skyler Horton, 2022. "Toxicants, entanglement, and mitigation in New England’s emerging circular economy for food waste," Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, Springer;Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences, vol. 12(2), pages 341-353, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:jenvss:v:12:y:2022:i:2:d:10.1007_s13412-021-00742-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s13412-021-00742-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Buzby, Jean C. & Farah-Wells, Hodan & Hyman, Jeffrey, 2014. "The Estimated Amount, Value, and Calories of Postharvest Food Losses at the Retail and Consumer Levels in the United States," Economic Information Bulletin 164262, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Hannah Rigby & Alan Dowding & Alwyn Fernandes & David Humphries & Rupert G. Petch & Christopher K. Reynolds & Martin Rose & Stephen R. Smith, 2015. "Organic Contaminant Content and Physico-Chemical Characteristics of Waste Materials Recycled in Agriculture," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 5(4), pages 1-40, December.
    3. Willi Haas & Fridolin Krausmann & Dominik Wiedenhofer & Markus Heinz, 2015. "How Circular is the Global Economy?: An Assessment of Material Flows, Waste Production, and Recycling in the European Union and the World in 2005," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(5), pages 765-777, October.
    4. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    5. Kirchherr, Julian & Reike, Denise & Hekkert, Marko, 2017. "Conceptualizing the circular economy: An analysis of 114 definitions," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 221-232.
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