‘Discarding well’ after a disaster? using a Discard Studies lens to examine disaster waste and debris management (DWDM)
In the United States, debris removal is one of the costliest and most time-consuming elements of disaster response and recovery. It is essential to reducing secondary environmental and health risks, and to community recovery and rebuilding. However, many operational challenges occur in the field. We present the findings of our research on improving disaster waste and debris management decision-making to undergraduate students studying emergency management. Our ethnographic study engaged over 70 government actors from federal, state, local, and Tribal agencies in focus groups and interviews. By examining the experiences of these actors, who are central to debris removal decisions, our research identifies decision points that send waste down particular pathways from collection to final disposal. Our findings share practical workarounds to operational challenges, such as interagency and interlevel relationship-building, that support on-the-ground decision-making which inform improvements in cooperative federalism and cross agency partnership in disaster clean-up situations.