Abstract
Islands are tightly connected to globalized material flows, with specific constraints and vulnerabilities. They are not closed metabolic loops of consumption, production, and waste, favorable to the circular economy. Small islands allow the observation of the material outcomes of circulation, from overflowing dumpsites to marine debris washing up on the shore. We argue that islands are key territories for better understanding the Capitalocene, precisely because of the ways in which they are connected to (rather than isolated from) globalized material flows. This article is a comparative geographical analysis of waste realities in three French/formerly French island territories: Ndzuwani (Comoros), Réunion, and New Caledonia. It builds on metabolism analysis and waste studies—in particular waste colonialism—to address the different perspectives that these approaches open up for the study of island territories. The long-term sociohistorical context of each island helps to explain contemporary waste management policies and practices. A material flow analysis makes it possible to sketch out metabolic profiles that show the contribution of prevailing mining and agricultural industries to waste generation. The comparison of current situations regarding household waste discourses and economies shows how these territories are characterized by waste accumulation.
Highlights
Waste has been studied through many different prisms, one of which sees waste as circulating matter (Moore, 2012)
We look at waste production as a problem of distribution and of economic and political power, raising the question of responsibilities: What are the social and environmental costs of the current situation of economic and political dependency that binds these island territories to mainland France? Who benefits from the externalization of environmental costs? Drawing on the political ecology of waste metabolism, we seek to explore what waste colonialism might mean in French island territories
Following Liboiron's definition of waste colonialism (2021), we argue that the unplanned mass production of waste that results from these islands' import-oriented economies, and the hardships it creates, demands that the very notion of "disposability" be reassessed: on smaller islands in particular, there is no "away" to speak of, and the question of land is crucial
Summary
Waste has been studied through many different prisms, one of which sees waste as circulating matter (Moore, 2012). In the 1970s, a series of development policies ensured the arrival of mass consumption on the island, which manifested itself through a massification and diversification of metabolic flows: on the one hand, European subsidies, and French subsidies, have ensured that the island still produces and exports sugar to mainland France and other countries despite fierce global competition; on the other hand, tons of goods have been making their way to the island, so much so that, by the 1980s, waste had become a very visible issue This newfound prosperity in Réunion has affected its 855,000 inhabitants unevenly. New Caledonia 271,400 inhab. 15 inhab./km US$34,932 Household waste: 438 kg/cap./year Industrial waste: 790 kg/cap./year Mining waste: 35,720 kg/cap./year 1991 (via France)
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