Dear Dr. Clarke:
Thank you for forwarding the agenda for the 24th international solid waste conference to the Greenyes listserve.
But for me it raises a question: what's Green about waste? This Solid Waste symposium in its call for papers uses the word waste 16 times in its long list of suggested topics. That's really quite a drumbeat.
Waste is Green? How does that work?
How about using the word discards? Unlike wastes, discards can be wasted or conserved. That neutral word is never once used in the conference agenda.
So all discards are wastes. I conclude there is not much room for clean recycling (or recyclers) at this conference.
Structurally, Green Quality recyclers have always been competing with wasters for the discard supply, so this terminological jiu-jitsu based on a property grab has long bedeviled the dialogue. It also feeds an impression that recyclers are gross polluters just like wasters. We're not.
I find the 24th International Solid Waste agenda off-putting, and will not attend. I wish attendees well at the conference, and hereby grant them a Zero Waste Lens with which they may see through the terminological fog to the wonderful opportunities in the emerging world of discard management.
Daniel Knapp, Ph.D. and CEO Urban Ore, Inc., a reuse and recycling company in Berkeley, California since 1980
On Jun 1, 2008, at 6:48 PM, Marjorie J. Clarke, Ph.D. wrote: From: "The Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management" <Solid.Waste@no.address> To: <Solid.Waste@no.address> Subject: solid waste call for papers Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 15:03:58 -0400
The 24th International Conference on Solid Waste Technology and Management Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A. March 15 - 18, 2009 Call For Papers Researchers, government officials, educators, students, consultants, managers, community leaders, and others with expertise in solid waste are invited to submit papers for oral or poster presentation at the Conference. -Abstracts are encouraged from all areas of solid waste technology and management, including:
Landfilling topics Recycling Energy recovery and thermal treatment Waste reduction Economics Policy Regulations Facility siting Public involvement EU directives Solid waste dust Ash Education Household hazardous wastes Municipal wastes Waste composition studies Industrial wastes Composting and biological treatment Contaminated sites Medical wastes Chemical and biochemical treatment Mining and mineral wastes Agricultural wastes Scrap tires Research topics Modeling Utilization of waste materials Case studies Innovative technologies Waste collection Waste generation studies Integrated waste management Equipment Sludge Environmental impacts Use of waste materials in construction Geotechnical topics Environmental equity Construction and demolition wastes Liners, caps, gas and leachate Waste in Developing Regions Carbon emissions reduction All other related topics -To submit an abstract for oral or poster presentation, click here. -For a printable version of the Call For Papers that can be posted, click here -For exhibiting information, click here -Participants are expected from 40 countries.
-A discounted Conference registration fee will be available for authors of accepted papers.
-Student presentations will be included in the Conference.
-Written versions of papers presented at the Conference may be published in the Conference Proceedings.
-Papers presented at the Conference may be reviewed for possible publication in the Journal of Solid Waste Technology and Management.
-Authors may submit multiple abstracts. However, no individual person may present more than two papers at the Conference. On-line submission of abstracts is preferred. For on-line submission instructions, click here.
If you are unable to use the on-line submission form, a one-page abstract (in English) should be sent to: Dr. Ronald L. Mersky, Conference Chair, Department of Civil Engineering, Widener University, 1 University Place, Chester, PA 19013-5792 U.S.A., Fax: 610 499 4461, email: solid.waste@no.address phone: 610 499 4042 . Include: the paper title; the names of all authors; the complete postal and email addresses of the corresponding author; a brief abstract. Indicate if you wish to present the paper as an oral presentation, poster session, or both.
The deadline for submission of abstracts is October 31, 2008. Earlier submission is encouraged.
The Conference Agenda and registration information will be posted at www.widener.edu/solid.waste in November, 2008. To learn about the Conference structure, you may wish to click here to view the agenda of the 23nd (2008) Conference. The navigation bar at the top of the web pages can be used to view proceedings details and photo galleries of previous conferences.
Please contact me with any questions. Ronald L. Mersky, Conference Chair There are risks and costs to action. But they are far less than the long range risks of comfortable inaction. John F. Kennedy
Maggie Clarke, Ph.D. www.MaggieClarkeEnvironmental.com Environmental Scientist, Educator mclarke@no.address New York City
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