Political markets: recycling, economization and marketization

Gregson, Nicky; Watkins, Helen; Calestani, Melania

doi:10.1080/03085147.2012.661625

Cited by 44 publications

(55 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…From this perspective, it is crucial to establish intact circular systems, where the recycling products meet the requirements of the relevant markets, e.g., in terms of the quality and price of the secondary P (products) compared to phosphate rock and mineral P fertilizer. This relates to what Gregson et al [3] (p. 2) called the "economization of recycling" referring to the challenge of translating resource-or sustainability-based values and rationales behind CE initiatives to a tradable product. It is therefore important to embed the interpretation of results of SFAs, which are, by definition, conducted within clearly-defined system boundaries, in the broader spatial scales of e.g., global resource economies.…”

Section: General Insights Into the Transition Towards A Ce Of Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Jedelhauser¹,

Mehr

Binder

2018

Sustainability

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Abstract:A transition towards a circular economy of phosphorus (P) in Switzerland is a multi-faceted challenge as P use is subject to a variety of influencing factors comprising policy interventions, consumption trends, or technological innovations on different spatial scales. Therefore, scenarios for P use that take into account both the social and the technical dimension of change are needed for investigating possible pathways of a transition towards more sustainable P futures. Drawing on the multi-level perspective of transition theory, we develop scenarios on the landscape level, i.e., a balanced and healthy human diet, on the regime level, i.e., P recovery from sewage sludge (ash) and meat and bone meal, and on the niche level, i.e., urine separation. Based on the P system of the year 2015, we assess the quantitative implications of the scenarios for the Swiss P system. While scenario 1 mainly affects the agricultural system by reducing the overall P throughput, scenario 2 significantly changes P use in waste management, because P losses to landfills and cement plants decrease and the production of secondary P increases. Scenario 3 shows little quantitative impact on the national P system. From a qualitative transition perspective, however, urine separation entails fundamental socio-technical shifts in the wastewater system, whereas P recovery from sewage sludge (ash) represents an incremental system adaptation. The combination of flow-and transition-oriented research provides more general insights into how a circular economy of P can be reached. Furthermore, the analysis of P recycling scenarios reveals that transition processes in Switzerland are embedded in a global resource economy. Thus, a sole focus on concepts of national P self-sufficiency and the reduction of Switzerland's P import dependency tend to fall short when analysing the economisation of secondary P materials in the face of transnational resource flows and markets.

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Section: General Insights Into the Transition Towards A Ce Of Pmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Jedelhauser¹,

Mehr

Binder

2018

Sustainability

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“…For local authorities, dry recyclables become a source of revenue, but revenue derived from material categories, tonnes and price/tonne. In recyclables markets, however, value is added through the work of separation and sorting (Rivoli, 2005;Crang et al 2013;Gregson et al 2013), with an open question being just how much separation and sorting is economically optimal (Spencer, 2005). Segregation and sorting are closely related to the categories and grades of materials used.…”

Section: 1: Uk Municipal Waste: Materials Recovery Facilities and Tmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interrogating the circular economy: the moral economy of resource recovery in the EU

Gregson¹,

Crang²,

Fuller³

et al. 2015

Economy and Society

Self Cite

493

324

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Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. Sara Fuller is a lecturer in the Department of Environment and Geography at Macquarie University, Australia. Her research explores concepts and practices of justice and democracy in the field of environment, with empirical focus on grassroots, community and activist responses to climate change. Prior to joining Macquarie, she worked and conducted research in the UK and Hong Kong.2 AbstractThe concept of the circular economy has gained increasing prominence in academic, practitioner and policy circles and is linked to greening economies and sustainable development. However, the idea is more often celebrated than critically interrogated. Analysis shows the concept circulates as an idea and ideal, exemplified by industrial symbiosis and extended product life. Yet, its actual enactment is limited and fragile. Instead, circular economies are achieved mostly through global recycling networks which are the primary means by which wastes are recovered as resources. European policies eschew these circuits. Resource recovery through global recycling networks is regarded as a dirty and illegal trade. In its place, EU circular economies attempt to transform wastes to resources within the boundaries of the EU. Through an analysis of two case studies of resource recovery in the UK, we highlight the challenges that confront making circular economies within the EU, showing that these are borne of a conjuncture of politically created markets, material properties and morally defined materials circuits. We show resource recovery in the EU to be framed by moral economies, driven by discourses of ecological modernisation, environmental justice and resource (in)security, the last of which connects to China's resource-intensive development.

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“…It involves balancing the volume of material processed and the separation and purity of the materials extracted. Hi-tech machinery of the type that characterises resource recovery operations in the developed world, and which is seen to epitomise clean recycling, needs to process high volumes of material at speed to amortise its costs but that speed typically leads to a relatively mixed stream of recovered materials [169]. Since the fine separation of materials is what adds value, it often creates materials of the lowest grade which are frequently exported to other parts of the world for further segregation [66].…”

Section: 2: Reuse Recycling and Resource Reclamation Economies In mentioning

confidence: 99%

From Waste to Resource: The Trade in Wastes and Global Recycling Economies

Gregson

Crang

2015

Annu. Rev. Environ. Resour.

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113

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Additional information:Use policyThe full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details.

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Political markets: recycling, economization and marketization

Cited by 44 publications

References 43 publications

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Transition of the Swiss Phosphorus System towards a Circular Economy—Part 2: Socio-Technical Scenarios

Interrogating the circular economy: the moral economy of resource recovery in the EU

From Waste to Resource: The Trade in Wastes and Global Recycling Economies

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