One emerging paradigm of research on waste management proves that cycles of discard are as much an act of worlding as they are an act of destruction and relinquishing of responsibility. In this keynote conversation, textiles, electronics, and plastics become key actors in the production of the waste dump, and the toxic relations and bodies that emerge from it. Interdisciplinary researcher Anwesha Borthakur gives an introduction to electronic (e-waste) and textile waste governance in so-called emerging economies, focusing in particular on recent field research from North India. Both of these are still relatively invisible, ignored, and understudied streams of waste, not just in these seemingly non-hegemonic geographies. Taking India as a lens through which to consider emerging economies, as well as the global implications of their waste management, the talk  focuses on field experiences of the management challenges and allied opportunities related to e- and textile waste in the country. Borthakur is then joined in conversation by the two mentors of the Discarding phase, Josh Lepawsky and Leeroy New, who share experiences from their own work with plastics and electronics, and the workshop in Berlin.

Can a view from the other end of the assembly line, often the final destination of the latest fashion item or unwanted computational device, shift the perspective on planned obsolescence? Given the directionality of global waste agreements, how does waste become a way to understand neocolonial relations? And given the new directionality and desire for super-cheap, fast disposable items being imported to Europe, sometimes with toxicant-levels that surpass threshold values set by the EU by several hundredfold, how do these new economies alter these relations?

What will be needed to manage the resulting—and ever-accumulating—abundance of waste, and what might emerge from the ruins of these consumer cycles?