Some waste, scrap, or by-product materials have little value. In fact many such materials represent liabilities for companies because the materials require companies to incur significant disposal costs. Alternatively, some companies have historically found “cheap" ways to dispose of such materials. For example, on Friday, April 2, 1993, residents of Brazos County, Texas, stumbled across 19 cans of industrial waste that were scattered along the batiks of the Navasota River. The cans were labeled “lacquer thinner, ” but the actual contents, which were leaking into the ground and the river, were not immediately known. The cans appeared to have been thrown from a vehicle traveling over a nearby road. Some cans were heavily dented, some were capped with rags, and all of them appeared to be scattered in a random pattern. State and county officials worked most of Saturday, April 3, cleaning up the site.

a. Comment on whether this method of disposing of industrial waste is a “cheap” alternative.

b. Discuss the ethical and legal implications of disposing of industrial waste in this manner.

c. What actions can people take to reduce these kinds of incidents?

d. Ethically, what obligation does the vendor/manufacturer of these industrial materials have to the industrial consumer of the materials?LO1