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8 Waste Management
the principle acts as a deterrent by mandating the polluter to incur the costs or
harm caused to the environment. When pollution costs are not imposed on polluters
or emitters, the costs are externalized to society. The society is compelled to bear
these costs through the concept of global commons. The idea of global commons
is that each person shares, and is allowed to use the resource. The principle could
be applied to emitters through the carbon price that imposes a certain charge of
greenhouse gas emissions that resonates with the potential cost.
Do you know of any countries that impose a carbon price on greenhouse gas
emissions? How effective have they been?
One approach to limit carbon emissions has been to assure that emitters pay a
cost for the pollution they release. The carbon price compels the polluter to pay
using two policy instruments: a carbon tax and a quota-based system/cap-and-trade.
These instruments operate by setting a limit on the optimum emission level for
a specific period and distribute permits for every unit of greenhouse gas among
organizations that produce emissions. In other words, the emitters pay by ensuring
that they have sufficient permits for covering the number of emissions they produced
for the specific year.
Does this encourage or discourage pollution?
8.3 Process of Waste Management
Waste management has increasingly become a concern in industrial, rural, and
urban areas. Improper management of hazardous waste leads to environmental
contamination in numerous ways (McDougall et al. 2008). Discharging hazardous
substances into water bodies leads to the death of aquatic life. In addition,
uncontrolled waste disposal could easily lead to the pollution of groundwater and
the soil. Consequently, prudent waste management is among the most significant
concerns of modern society. Ideally, waste management entails the following crucial
steps:
1. Waste reduction.
2. Waste recycling.
3. Waste treatment.
4. Waste disposal.
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