Mapping a Wicked Problem

Carnegie Mellon, Transition Design Seminar 2021

Team Synergy — Aashrita Indurti, Madeline Sides, Monica Chang, Sian Sheu

From water and soil contamination to feelings of hopelessness, to the increase in blood pressure that comes from seeing blight and trash everywhere, it affects how people view their neighborhoods and view themselves.
- Alicia Carberry, Operations Assistant — Office of the Mayor, Pittsburgh

Poor Waste Management in Pittsburgh

The Allegheny County is home to scenic patches of green and flowing rivers that over the years have become abode to dumps of garbage and waste debris. Pittsburgh generates about 8.7 million tons of waste annually, which comes out to about 1,300 pounds of waste per head per year, according to the Pennsylvania Waste Industries Association.

How much waste is too much? At 1,300 pounds per person annually, Pittsburgh actually generates fewer pounds of waste per capita than the US annual average, which is 1,700 pounds per person. Indeed, a 2017 Zero Waste Strategic Plan for Pittsburgh prepared by the group Regions for Climate Action (R20) characterized Pittsburgh’s waste and recycling programs as “average”. However, when viewed from a global perspective, the severity of Pittsburgh’s waste problem becomes more clear. What is “average” for a city in the US is far from the global norm and is by no means “sustainable”. The average Pittsburgher generates about 2.5 times more waste per person than the global average. The United States is home to 4% of the world’s population but accounts for 12% of the global waste produced(1).

Waste production and waste management are inextricably linked. In Pittsburgh, as the city continues to struggle to keep up with the population’s consumption, these effects have taken their toll on the environment. On the Monongahela River, a persistent, floating patch of garbage has developed. Even with non-profits like Allegheny CleanWays making regular trips to clean up the debris, the patch continues to grow(2).

But why does this matter? As materials start to break down over time, microplastics enter the waterways, harming wildlife and even finding its way back into our bodies through the food we consume. This example is just one of the many reasons why we must investigate the systemic problem of poor waste management so it might be effectively mitigated. In order to do so, the Transition Design framework, which is the scaffolding of this course, indicates that those who wish to mitigate a wicked problem must first trace the problem back to its roots. Our goal is to gain a deeper understanding of the various dynamics of this wicked problem in order to design potential interventions.

Waste Management as a Wicked Problem

But first, what exactly is a wicked problem? The term was first coined by design professor Horst Rittel and planning professor Melvin Webber in a journal article published in 1973. Rittel & Webber suggest that many, if not all, problems of social policy are “wicked” in that they cannot be definitively described, raise questions about the nature of what constitutes a public good and cannot be addressed with simple, science-based solutions. In short, wicked problems have no definitive solutions or objective answers. The premise of our team’s engagement with the problem of waste management in Pittsburgh is that it is a wicked problem, of which our team worked to develop an understanding through the activities described below.

Discovering Wicked Problems

In the Transition Design Seminar class, our team participated in huddles in which we explored the role of wicked problems, brainstormed on the principles of living systems and its relationship with the dynamics of design. This exercise gave us a perspective about the problem space from the point of view of the characteristics of wicked problems and their manifestation.

Another impactful discussion that helped us make headway into drawing connections between various socio-cultural and economic aspects of wicked problems was the analysis of the local and global context and the semblance of scale while going from the micro to the macro level.

In-Class Discussion Boards on the Role of Wicked Problems

Taking the STEEP Route

We used a STEEP framework, an analysis method employed by designers, strategists and businesses alike to break down this wicked problem into its separate, but related causal factors. Using STEEP means focusing on five main categories:

1. Social — How we think and what we do
2. Technology/Infrastructure — How our societal systems, technology, and science worsen the issue
3. Economic/Business — How they have contributed or made worsen by the issue
4. Environmental — How the problem affects our natural environment and other members of the ecosystem
5. Politics/Governance/Legal — How law and policies have influenced the problem

We performed secondary online research to better understand the space before moving onto an iterative process of mapping.

Secondary Research on the actors and factors that constitute the Waste Management Process in Pittsburgh

With all the research at hand, we were able to comprehend the factors that account for the garbage menace in the city. The big task at hand was to make connections not only across categories (social, technological, economic, environmental and political) but also draw relationships to other wicked problems that magnify the intensity of the issue of Waste Management.

As we worked through the task of mapping, our team added to the basic wicked problem mapping template in order to differentiate between problems which we feel are related to waste creation (supply of waste) versus problems that are related to waste management (removal of waste) itself. Both types of problems contribute to the overall challenge of waste management in Pittsburgh. This differentiation is indicated with pink (waste supply) and/or orange (management) flags added onto the main sticky notes.

A Sneak Peek of the Map in Progress

Some Key Insights

• Waste Generation: The issue of poor waste management stems from the fact that technology has progressed at a rate with which the waste disposal system has not caught up. Policies and regulations do not patronize the ‘right to repair’ model that promotes repair as a means to extend a product’s lifeline. Thus, Products and technologies are honed constantly to cater to people’s needs and older versions become obsolete with no place to dump the old goods. As an added incentive to boost production, the capitalist way of life promotes the ‘throw-away’ culture which springs from the feeling of ‘not having enough’. This chain reaction ultimately hurts ecology, destroys biodiversity and causes health issues
• Local Industry: Pittsburgh boasts of the rich heritage of its factories and industries. These industries channel their liquid and gaseous wastes along with solid toxins and material garbage to the rivers and landfill, polluting land, water and air. The wicked problems of air pollution, water contamination and garbage disposal are interconnected and go hand in hand
• Pandemic-related Waste Creation: COVID-19 has disrupted human life in unfathomable ways and has a huge role to play in the current garbage disposal scenario affecting sanitation workers unsparingly. These workers work in conditions devoid of proper safety gears and PPE suits making them highly vulnerable to contracting the disease. Often, poverty is a factor that drives these workers to work in environments that unsafe and toxic to their health. The underlying reason is that the garbage business is a commercial gamble and involves corrupt and unethical practices at the cost of the environment and those who are marginalised. Another wicked problem of poverty and the gap between the rich and poor surfaces which is closely connected to the issue of the garbage menace
• Dumping: The case of illegal dumping is a growing evil in the city and little has been done by the government to penalise those taking to this practice. It costs the city 10 times the cost per ton to dispose of illegal dumping waste. Businesses thrive on this complacent attitude and indulge in illegal dumping and take to the rivers as a site of garbage disposal which brings us back to the image of the floating debris in the Monongahela River
• Research shows the alarming levels of lead contamination in the river and its harmful effect on human health. Various organisations make use of this problem space to boost the sale of water filters in the city, however, the bigger issue still remains that not everybody can afford a water filter and a huge chunk of the society is affected by a plethora of lead-related morbidities
• Offshoring: The global power dynamics on a macro level has a distinct part to play in this garbage menace. Developed countries like the US rely on developing countries to export wastes and in unprecedented times like these, countries like China and Malaysia have put a ban on the import of plastic and paper. Lack of self-sufficient recycling infrastructure and ageing technology has hurt cities such as Pittsburgh, thus emphasizing the issue of disposal of waste

The Final Iteration — Mapping (Poor) Waste Management in Pittsburgh as a Wicked Problem

Reflection

The process of STEEP mapping is insightful in establishing connections between various other wicked problems and issues at both the micro and macro level that one would fail to discover otherwise. However, the exercise is iterative in nature and each session of brainstorming and joining the dots unravelled new layers of information and associations between the five categories and other wicked problems. This project helped us understand the hands-on heuristics of the characteristics of wicked problems as we put the theory we learnt to practical use.

Sources

1. Nichols, Will and Niall Smith “Waste Generation and Recycling Indices 2019 Overview and findings” Verisk Maplecroft, 2019.
2. Zuidema, Teake. “Many Pittsburgh-area plastics end up in landfills or the environment. Is recycling a solution or only a patch?” Public Source, 18 June 2019. <https://www.publicsource.org/many-pittsburgh-area-plastics-end-up-in-landfills-or-the-environment-is-recycling-a-solution-or-only-a-patch/>