Adam Minter

Minter, son of a scrap-man, and one of the few journalists working exclusively on recycling issues, has written a fascinating, inspiring, disturbing, and at times almost magical exploration of the world of recycling.

It's a complex story, and it pulls in stories about globalisation, technology, economics and commodity markets, manufacturing, and culture. I have worked in the sector and know it reasonably well, but was still surprised and amazed in virtually every chapter.

Minter, though show more clearly an expert, never forgets his casual reader, and consistently positions his story and facts around what an average person would make of them. Explanations are succinct and lucid; priorities are not arranged commercially. His enthusiasm around the sheer act of scrapping itself does set him apart, undeniably, but his excitement is infectious, and I found myself sharing it more often than not.

It's not a long book, but neither is it too short. Minter has delivered something thorough that includes a good deal of interesting history, demonstrating how the very complex market of today came to be.

My only wish is that he had spent a little more time - or whole chpaters, even - on the waste disposal industry, as opposed to just the recycling industry. It is equally fascinating and complex. To be fair, however, that is not is expertise, and is probably more than enough for another book.

Here in the West, we tend to forget about our trash once it goes in the bin - this book is an invigorating, intriguing antidote to that. Recommended. show less

What happens to your stuff when you're done with it? Like many people, I donate used items to thrift stores on a regular basis. I've also spent a fair amount of time in the back rooms of various thrift stores, baling discarded clothing and sorting through donated books. So, I had a little background knowledge, but I learned a lot reading Minter's thorough exploration of the global secondhand trade. This is a fascinating look at the world of stuff, from used bookstores in Japan, to secondhand show more clothing markets in Benin, to mills in India where woolen goods are shredded and recycled into blankets for disaster relief. Minter is realistic about the fate of some segments of the secondhand market ("The good news," an executive at a rag company jokes darkly, "is that nobody wants to get into this business."), but he's also cautiously optimistic about ways in which the secondhand trade could be improved and supported, seeing it as an essential part of global trade, and the natural solution to the problem of all this stuff that humans have accumulated, especially in the past century. Reading the book made me even less inclined to shop than I normally am (and I'm not much of a shopper), but I found it a fascinating read, and not as depressing as it might have been. If you're intrigued about the ways our used stuff moves around the world, I'd recommend this book. Bonus points if you borrow, rather than buy, it. show less

This is a fascinating look at where our American stuff goes when we don't want it any more. Of course, there are the many whose overflow supports the very profitable and ugly storage units that clutter our landscape. And there's the hired angels who come into your home to perform a "Swedish Death Cleanse". But then what? The author follows bundles of clothing from an Arizona Goodwill to a rag ripping company in New Jersey to a sorting room outside Toronto to a market stall in Nogales, Mexico show more to a shipping container heading for Cotonou, Benin and another for Kandla, India. Used books in Japan, used televisions in Nigeria, used cars in Ghana, fixing your own cellphone via "the repair manual for everything", iFixit of San Luis Obispo, CA, and much more is thoroughly examined. Manufacturers and marketers try forcing us to buy new, but the author makes the case that all global economies and people benefit from repair and replace.

Quote: "Debates over whether certain countries and peoples can import or export "waste" are, at their core, debates over whether certain racial groups should have access to material goods and whether they should use and dispose of them in ways that richer, usually white countries prescribe." show less

I received a free review copy of this book.
This book was clearly a labor of love for its author, whose family ran a junkyard and who has been employed as a journalist for scrap and recycling magazines. And it is a joy to read. If you love episodes of "How It's Made" or are one of those people who wonders about the nitty-gritty of what happens after you chuck something into the recycle bin or turn in your obsolete computer, you will salivate over this book. Mr Minter gets deep into the piles show more of mixed and separated metals in many a gigantic warehouse in China in the service of providing an amount of detail that I doubt you would find elsewhere. He tells how American scrapyards sell to largely Chinese buyers, how the scrap then travels to specific locations in China where it is separated, largely by hand, so it can be sold to manufactures who will make the items that they ship back to America.

The descriptions in this book are vivid, giving the reader a sense of the places, sights and people involved in the scrap/recycle trade. He clearly details the unsafe working conditions in Chinese scrap recycling. But the story of just how its done is fascinating. And to add a cherry to the frosting, there are a wealth of clear, color photos. The only thing better would be to be able to tag along with Mr Minter. I wished I could be there to see the awesome scale of the Chinese end of this process, but even more, I would have LOVED to be there in Indiana to see the massive automobile shredder he visits. Yes, it shreds cars!!

The focus of the book is on scrap metal and electronics, but he doesn't neglect the plastics.

He clearly deals with the unsafe conditions of the Chinese workers in these industries and the accusations of dumping our goods into these undesirable conditions. The issues are complex; the marketplace is powerful; there aren't alot of sane and safe alternatives. He stresses the need to reduce and reuse rather than just recycle, but points out the disinclination of the developed world the reduce consumption and the difficulty of reuse when products are not designed to be repaired or upgraded.

As I was finishing this book, I wanted immediately to pass it on to friends who I thought would love it too. I think that is a good recommendation. show less