Trash or Treasure

In this book, we have contributions from experts working on diverse aspects of waste management and waste entrepreneurship with an aim to contribute toward a holistic understanding of the existing and forthcoming waste handling challenges. Waste entrepreneurship refers to the practice of creating and operating businesses that aim to address the problem of waste management. It signifies businesses that are dedicated to finding innovative solutions for managing waste and plays a crucial role in building a sustainable future. Waste entrepreneurs identify waste as a valuable resource and use state-of-the-art tactics to reduce, reuse, recycle, and re-purpose it. By developing new technologies, services, and products that help reduce waste and recycle materials, they can create new economic opportunities while simultaneously reducing the environmental impact of waste. The primary audience of this book are researchers (from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds) working in the field of waste management (especially E-waste, Plastics, Paper and Cardboard Waste, Organic Waste, and Construction and Demolition Waste) and environmental sustainability. This book also contains descriptions of various facets of waste entrepreneurship from different countries which will be helpful for different entrepreneurs looking for business opportunities in the waste management sector, NGOs, government agencies, international agencies, and new researchers working in the related fields. In particular, the book could provide start-up ideas to the enthusiastic readers. 

Dr. Anwesha Borthakur is currently a Landhaus Fellow at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in Germany. She is also affiliated to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium from where she completed her Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2021. Prior to that, she obtained her PhD in science policy from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi, India. She has published over 40 research articles/ book chapters in peer-reviewed, indexed journals and edited volumes on topics associated with environmental sustainability. Her broad areas of research interest include waste governance, electronic and textile waste, traditional ecological knowledge, public engagement for environmental sustainability and scientometric analysis. Dr. Pardeep Singh is presently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Environmental Studies, PGDAV College, University of Delhi in New Delhi, India. Heobtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University), Varanasi. He was selected as a Young Scientist by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), India for the BRICS Young Scientist Conclave held in Durban, South Africa. His research interests include waste management, wastewater treatment, water scarcity and global climate change. He has published more than 75 research/review papers in international journals in the field of environmental science. He has also edited more than 40 books with various International publishers including Springer Nature, Elsevier, CRC Press and Wiley.