Abstract

Waste and its reuse have constituted an important field of economic activity for most of human history, including modern times. While the collected articles of this special issue exemplify the significance that waste salvage had in mobilising resources in Europe, Asia, and North America in World War II, this introduction situates these cases in a long-term perspective. It explores the continuities and ruptures inside the structures, markets, and actors of the salvage business from late nineteenth century waste reclamation, including the sanitary era of municipal waste disposal, to the more recent era of ‘green’ recycling. It argues that we need to rethink waste’s role within business history by delineating four basic characteristics of the waste business: the moral economies that govern wasting and reusing; the informality of the trade and its operations; the trans-sectorality of the waste streams; and the reverse logistics of the waste salvage trade.

摘要

在包括现代在内的大部分人类历史中，废物及其再利用已成为经济活动的重要领域。虽然本期特刊收录的文章体现了二战期间废物打捞在欧洲、亚洲和北美调动资源方面的重要意义，但本导言将这些案例置于长期的视角。它探讨了从 19 世纪后期的废物回收（包括城市废物处理的卫生时代）到最近的“绿色”回收时代，打捞业务的结构、市场和参与者内部的连续性和断裂性。它认为，我们需要通过描绘废物业务的四个基本特征来重新思考废物在商业历史中的作用：管理浪费和再利用的道德经济；行业及其运作的非正规性；废物流的跨部门性；以及废弃物打捞贸易的逆向物流。