‘The Idea of Waste’ starts with the premise that waste is inevitable in human society – and ends with a meditation on its inevitability. It explores how we have grappled with both the material reality and the specter of this shapeshifting phenomenon throughout history – utilizing it, dreaming of overcoming it, yet never escaping it. John Scanlan explores what waste is and why it seems to be intrinsic to human life, at every turn, in every age and epoch. Finally, he demonstrates how waste never disappears, but rather only proliferates anew.