Ecological Material Management - Subject Waste:

Consideration of global aspects in environmental planning
By Dr. Norbert Kopytziok
From: Landesamt für Natur und Umwelt des Landes Schleswig-Holstein (Publ.State Bureau for Nature and Environment of Schleswig-Holstein): Annual Report 1999. Flintbek 2000

When buying fruit and vegetables it is now required that the country of origin be marked on the product. Thus we learn not only that bananas come from Costa Rica, but also apples from South Africa, onions from New Zealand and nuts are available from the USA. Other groceries show the producing company and often the location of production as well. Thus the contents of a container of joghurt produced in Germany may be from a combination of ingredients from several countries. For production and processing all the way to the sale of a fruit joghurt, an overall transport of over 9000 km are required.
This example points to the interlocking nature of the world, which is then connected to regional effects. This interconnectedness is based on "world-wide production networks" which set enormous material streams in motion.
In the enclosed article the technical spectrum for mass streams will be noted, whose end station is waste.

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