Managing Canada's waste flow

Home Managing Canada’s waste flow

“Philosophers, social scientists and engineers look at the world in different ways....[Canada’s Waste Flow allows] everyone to come together, regardless of their approach, around this thing called ’waste.’ It works because while waste involves difficult technological issues, it also raises social and ethical issues for which there’s no technological fix.”
Myra Hird, Queen's University researcher and principal investigator of Canada's Waste Flow project

Managing Canada's waste flow

Canada is the biggest producer of municipal solid waste (MSW) — trash or garbage — worldwide. Queen’s University researcher Myra Hird is the principal investigator of Canada’s Waste Flow (CWF), a multi-disciplinary research project working to remedy Canada’s waste reputation by exploring the production, movement, and disposal of Canada’s waste as an acute environmental and human health issue. Hird is intrigued by what she calls the “network of relations” associated with waste, such as, the web of interactions, transactions and negotiations that occur after something is thrown away.

Her unique research team involves philosophers, social scientists, and engineers to attack the issue of waste production and management on technical, cultural, and ethical fronts.