Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology· 2026Q1
Revisiting the Ontology of Waste: Compossibility and Compost-ability
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
This paper introduces 'compost-ability,' a new ontological and epistemological category for waste, defined by the interplay of 'compost' and 'possibility.'
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Key points
- Introduces 'compost-ability' as a new ontological and epistemological category for waste.
- Compost-ability is theorized through the concepts of 'compost' and 'possibility.'
- Waste is reinterpreted as a technological task of reintegration into the human milieu.
- The concept connects to imagination, cosmotechnics, and Simondon's notion of milieu.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
This article introduces the newly coined term compost-ability in order to propose a reconceptualization of the ontological domain of waste. Structured around two interrelated components—“compost” and “possibility”—compost-ability functions as both an ontological and an epistemological category. As such, it may be theorized in relation to the problem of imagination, understood in connection with cosmotechnics, a concept developed by Yuk Hui. Drawing upon Gilbert Simondon’s notion of milieu, compost-ability is articulated as a technological operation governed by the principle of compossibility. From this perspective, waste can be interpreted as a task of technological reintegration into the human milieu. In this light, waste becomes a site where the terms of coexistence are contested, and the milieu emerges as an active domain in which limits and vital potentials are continuously renegotiated.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology, 2026 · DOI ↗
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Field: Philosophy
PhilosophyArts and Humanities