This book identifies the most common types of waste, its major producers, how we manage waste locally, regionally and globally, and why this management is leading to more waste. It is written for students and general readers interested in waste as a human health and environmental issue.

Myra J. Hird is a Full Professor, elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and Queen's National Scholar in the School of Environmental Studies, Queen's University, Canada. Hird is Director of Waste Flows, an interdisciplinary research project focused on waste as a global scientific-technical and socio-ethical issue. Hird has published 13 books and over 90 articles and book chapters on a diversity of topics relating to science studies. Hird's 12th book, written with Hillary Predko, is called Extracting Reconciliation and is published by Routledge. Hird represented Canada at the G7 Science Meeting on Plastic Pollution in Paris, France.

1. Defining Waste 2. Waste in Historical Context 3. Understanding Waste 4. Managing Waste 5. Contextualizing Waste 6. Reducing Waste