Clapp is an alarmist. His book enumerates many problems with disposal of the "industrial" wastes, most prominently of commercial ships. He lists many disasters following the disassembling of ships and the damage of the procedure to the environment. This part of his narrative is exciting and helpful for understanding of the modern environmental challenges.
Yet, he does not propose any solutions to these problems. In most of the book, the positives from the ships' dismantling are glided over. First, recycling of steel, and second, the reuse of the amenities of the passenger ships -- he mentions the cabin furniture, microwaves, etc. after their cleaning -- saves enormous energy and materials. In particular, currently the demand for coal for coking and the iron ore has been significantly subdued and enormous quantities of new steel is produced by (relatively) efficient electric smelters.
Many of the problems he lucidly describes: horrible conditions inside the ships' hulks, leakage of toxic liquids before and during dismantling and using the poor countries like Pakistan and Bangladesh as a garbage disposals for the rich countries -- can be addressed within either technological advancements or enlightened social policy. Not all of the former require a particularly high technology though a hulk-plying robots would help. For instance, chemists could develop gas mixtures, something like a hot mixture of carbon dioxide with hydrogen in non-explosive concentrations, which can flush out the residuals of oils and other petroleum substances before the dismantling crews in hazmat suites are left in. Similarly, there could be measures for protecting the workers if only rich countries become moderately interested in this. In these times, in the US everything which smacks of non-military international aid is taboo; and the EU hastily prepares to war with Russia.
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