Working with Waste

Introduction

More Treasure Than Trash

N. Wigginton et al.

Trash is often treasure—a feedstock that can't be overlooked as an expanding world population tries to use resources more efficiently and reduce the strain that our consumption places on natural systems.


News

Garbology 101: Getting a Grip on Waste

J. Mervis
Most people choose to ignore it, but managing waste is a pressing and contentious issue that is prompting a closer look at what we throw away—and where it ends up.
News

Modern-Day Waste Pickers

J. Mervis
People have been sifting through trash for as long as society has been producing waste. But to most people, it's all just trash.
News

Finding a New Way to Go

G. Vogel
The flush toilet was a transformative invention, but experts say its time may be past and are pioneering ways to recover energy and nutrients from human waste.

Video: Toilets 2.0VIDEO: The latest in toilet tech.
 
News

Water Reclamation Going Green

E. Pennisi
Wastewater treatment plants are revamping themselves as resource recovery operations, saving—and even producing—energy and polluting less in the process.

Video: Water Processing PlantVIDEO: Wastewater treatment advances.
News

A Better Way to Denitrify Wastewater

E. Pennisi
Anammox bacteria, which convert ammonia into nitrogen gas in the absence of oxygen, could dramatically improve methods of removing ammonia from wastewater streams.
News

Save Pave the World

R. F. Service
Carbon dioxide may be the ultimate industrial waste product. Could tropical corals provide a trick for locking it away in our highways?
News

Getting Minds Out of the Sewer

G. Miller
The aversion to excrement, which is deeply rooted in the human psyche, gets in the way of sensible solutions to recycling wastewater.
 
See Also
Multimedia

Cover Stories

small magazine cover
Science's Art Director tells the story behind this issue's cover.
Science Podcast

Words on Waste

A round up of interviews with contributors to the special issue on Working with Waste.
Art Show

Disposable Culture

An exhibtion at AAAS headquarters examines the practice of using things up and throwing them away.
Infographic

World of Waste

waste infographic
Insights into where the world's waste is coming from, where it is going, and how waste streams are changing.

Reviews, Perspectives, & Editorials

Review

Conversion of Wastes into Bioelectricity and Chemicals by Using Microbial Electrochemical Technologies

B. E. Logan and K Rabaey
Electrogenic microorganisms can add value to wastewater by converting organic matter into electricity.
Review

Valorization of Biomass: Deriving More Value from Waste

C. O. Tuck et al.
Agricultural and food waste can potentially displace petroleum feedstocks to make organic compounds on an industrial scale.
 
Review

Taking the "Waste" Out of "Wastewater" for Human Water Security and Ecosystem Sustainability

S. B. Grant et al.
Wastewater at various stages of treatment can supplement freshwater and thereby increase global water productivity..

Video FeatureVIDEO: Improving water productivity.
Review

Challenges in Metal Recyling

B.K. Reck and T. E. Graedel
Improving waste collection, processing technologies, and product design would make metal recycling more efficient.
 
Perspective

Recycling of the #5 Polymer

M. Xanthos
The outlook is improving for recycling the common plastic polypropylene.
Perspective

The Challenges of Reusing Mining and Mineral-Processing Wastes

Z. Bian et al.
Waste materials from mining activities comprise one of the largest global waste streams by mass.
Editorial

An End to Waste?

J. G. Hering
An end to waste requires we reassess our patterns of production and consumption.

Related Resources


Articles in Science

External Resources