Framing Waste as a Common Treasury to Facilitate the Circular Economy

The unsustainable amounts of waste currently produced are hugely problematic – resources are being ‘wasted’ and there are numerous issues related to current waste management operations. Many different laws and policies have been introduced to tackle the ‘wicked’ problem of the existing waste crisis, including on the circular economy in which wastes and resources are ‘looped’ back into systems through reuse, recycling, and other recovery to promote sustainable development. Yet, these have neither had the desired nor required transformative effect. This chapter therefore examines recasting waste as a common treasury that may, combined with other existing laws and policies, incentivise the prevention and sustainable circular management of waste. Malcolm and Clarke’s understanding of the concept of common treasury to describe the physical nature and importance of a resource, rather than its legal nature, is adopted in this chapter. The aim of this chapter is two-fold. First, the possible benefits of reconceiving waste as a common treasury are evaluated. Second, the impacts of the private, communal, state, and no property in waste are examined to identify the most appropriate property scheme for waste to operate as a common treasury. This chapter therefore contributes to furthering arguments introduced by Malcolm and Clarke on the notion of common treasury, and their consideration of the most fitting property interests, by investigating the particular example of the man-made resource of waste in contrast to their examination of a natural resource, water