Recycling war machines: Canadian munitions disposal, reverse logistics, and economic recovery after World War II.

This article examines how the Canadian state disposed of surplus munitions and supplies after World War II. It makes three related arguments. First, mass production during the war created a post-war disposal crisis that compelled the government to regulate the divestment of assets for political and economic purposes. Second, through a government-run company, the War Assets Corporation (WAC), the Canadian state established a system of reverse logistics that recouped value from depreciating assets and prevented a flood of goods from deflating the economy. Third, the WAC oversaw destruction programmes that either eliminated or scrapped the unsellable remainders. In the end, this process recycled secondary resources into peacetime production and expanded material conversions to ensure that all types of war surpluses were profitability diffused into civilian hands. However, reversing wartime logistics was not without a dark side, rife with acrimony over prices and sales restrictions, as well as significant environmental degradation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]