The Culture of Recycling, Re-use and Reduction: Eco-Activism and Entrepreneurship in Central Asia

Abstract

While national governments are setting net-zero targets and drawing up strategies to reduce CO2 emissions and meet their Paris Agreement commitments, local entrepreneurs are putting words into action. This paper reviews the waste management situations and national strategies across Central Asian countries in addition to the various enterprises which have sought to improve their local environment and change people’s behaviour and attitudes towards the environment through waste-management initiatives. The case studies include a zero-waste grocery store; the collection, recycling and re-purposing of waste; and the organisation of events to encourage the reduction of consumption and associated waste. These enterprises combine their business models with social awareness programmes to promote more sustainable lifestyles and environmentally friendly habits. The micro-level focus provides an opportunity to see how entrepreneurs and activists in Central Asian cities are filling the gap left by national governments in promoting sustainability.

Redefining responsible consumption decent work: Insights from the second-hand industry in Uzbekistan

“…Another neglected field is that of SMEs, which contribute to around 57% of Uzbekistan's gross domestic product (UzStat, 2019). As a result, in this paper we adopt a more urban perspective on the SDGs in Central Asia by looking at business practices around the acquisition, repair, and resale of second-hand goods in Tashkent, a topic only briefly touched upon when it comes to Central Asia and the and the Commonwealth of Independent States (Demidova et al, 2021;Tskhay, 2023). This research project employed a mixed methods approach, primarily involving random focus groups and structured and semi-structured interviews conducted in four neighborhoods of the Uzbekistan capital.…”