ESCP Europe

The amount of waste produced by humanity now equals the Earth’s biomass, revealing a world where waste creation outpaces the creation of life. As landfills overflow, “waste wars” erupt globally, driven by the trade, movement, and opaque handling of garbage. Behind every consumed product lies an unseen journey of recycling, trafficking, resale, or disposal, with profound human and environmental consequences. By tracing five emblematic conflicts, Waste Wars exposes a sprawling global market and questions what waste management reveals about the inequalities and failures of our era.