Philadelphia Recycling Blueprint

Poverty and pollution health risk

The waste management system in Philadelphia is qualified as self-management since, in the absence of public authorities in certain sectors, various networks of actors are being set up in order to compensate for “public waste management.”

If this system actually corresponds to the informal management system, the term self-management takes on a more positive value, highlighting the fact that populations without access to collection networks are those who organize their own circuits.

This organization is actually done spontaneously, by a progressive articulation of all the actors identified above. Waste that can be the subject of material recovery is also recycled by these actors in the informal circuit.

If these practices have a certain utility for urban society, they generate the production of many risks. The health of workers or the local environment are very strongly affected by this self-management. The environmental impact can however be discussed in the light of the overall ecological interest of the waste recovery carried out.

Taking the environmental issue into account on a large scale is then done to the detriment of the local environment. Finally, the illegal conditions mean that this activity is reserved for the poorest and most marginal populations.

All of these points have been the subject of further reflection…

New waste management system

The emergence of a new specific waste management system: shared management

It is possible to understand the two preceding systems through two factors that characterize them: the effectiveness of the action of the public authorities and the involvement of the population.

While each of the two systems relies primarily on one of the two factors, we observe the emergence of a third system that tries to combine the two: the shared management system.

This is based on the sharing of management burdens and responsibilities between residents and institutional players, also involving all the informal players in waste management.

The demonstration of the shared waste management system is then justified by the convergence of these two factors, as well as by field experiences going in this direction.

Factors for the effectiveness of public management and the involvement of the population are multiple. Involving the population more when it comes to recycling and efficient junk disposal is crucial. Without Pennsylvania residents getting

The first factor making it possible to distinguish the two systems observed above is that of the efficiency of public waste management versus private endeavors like using services such as a roll-off dumpster rental service or reusing old electronic equipment.

Better educating the people about ways to limit wastage, recycling methodologies and services reducing pollution is a first step in the direction of better waste management practices in Philadelphia. We all have to contribute to enhance sustainability!

This is considered effective in Philadelphia when it reduces or even eliminates the health and environmental risks associated with waste. That is to say, waste must be removed outside inhabited areas and treated so as not to degrade the natural resources necessary for the functioning of these same urban spaces.