Regulation of Wastes
Environmental problems faced today differ from those of most of the Earth's history in both kind and degree. Society and its elected and appointed delegates increasingly respond to waste-related problems by writing and enforcing laws. The number of laws enacted to address various aspects of wastes has grown substantially in recent decades. Waste management requires attention to the waste and the characteristics of the place where the waste is found. This place is known as the "environmental medium." The major environmental media are air, water, soil, sediment, and even biota. To make the regulation of wastes is even more refined, waste management must be viewed systematically. Wastes tend to be transported and can cause problems well beyond the borders of nations. One of the key waste management challenges of the twenty-first century is the ease at which waste problems are simply transferred to countries with less stringent controls. The interconnections of wastes can lead to a "circle of poisons," the phenomenon where nations may ban a substance, but it continues to be produced and used in other, usually less economically developed, countries. Despite the ban within the borders of certain countries, the feared substance returns. Thus, the rationale for the ban, that is reduced risks to that country's inhabitants, is forgone and people continue to be exposed when they import the products that contain or are contaminated with the banned substances.
