Made to be wasted : PET and topologies of disposability

In this chapter, I investigate how the economic capacities of one particular plastic-polyethylene terephthalate (PET) - have been enacted. I want to analyse how this plastic has acquired the 'character of calculability'. This is a term Calion and Muniesa (2005) use to describe the technical, material and social processes whereby the qualities and value of goods are determined. For Calion and Muniesa, markets are key sites for the dynamics of calculationindeed, this is their primary function. However, they are by no means the only site: the qualities or calculability of goods are continually subject to change as they move through various assemblages from design to production to consumption and more. All of these represent specific centres and forms of calculation that elaborate the value of goods or requalify them in various ways. The properties of goods, then, are never fixed; instead, they are continually being enacted in multiple networks and interactions.