Waste as a (dys)functional object: Functional lines of thinking in everyday life

Waste is usually considered an unintended and negative result of consumption or inefficient processes. This article challenges this view by examining how people attribute functionality and dysfunctionality to waste. Moving beyond the legacy of functionalism, which emphasizes systemic necessity and downplays agency, we propose a pragmatic approach that shifts interpretive authority from researchers to the functional reasoning of actors. By comparing food waste and nuclear waste, we demonstrate that despite their different material properties, both are perceived as functional and dysfunctional depending on the perspective and situation of the observer. We propose understanding waste as a (dys)functional object with ascribed functional and dysfunctional relevance. Embedded in pragmatic, normative, and political contexts, these objects perform a dual role: they connect and relate, but they also diverge and polarize. Studying these objects provides a new way for social theory to analyze societies reconfigured through contingent and conflictual functional reasoning in everyday life.