Abstract
The discussion on the circular economy (CE) has attracted a rising interest within global policy and business as a way of increasing the sustainability of production and consumption. Yet the literature mostly portrays a Global North perspective. There is a diverse spectrum of community-based organizations playing important roles in resource recovery and transformation, particularly, but not only, in Global South countries, providing innovative examples for grassroots involvement in waste management and in the CE. This article proposes to add a Southern lens, situated in the context of waste picker organizations, to the concept of CE. The discursive framework in this article couples ecological economy (EE) with social/solidarity economy (SSE), focusing not only on environmental sustainability but also on social, economic, political and cultural dimensions involved in production, consumption and discard. We acknowledge that grassroots movements contribute to policy making and improve urban waste management systems. The paper outlines two empirical studies (Argentina, Brazil) that illustrate how waste picker organizations perform selective waste collection services, engage with municipalities and industries, and practice the CE. The research reveals that social and political facets need to be added to the debate about the CE, linking environmental management and policy with community development and recognizing waste pickers as protagonists in the CE. Our findings emphasize a need for a change of persisting inequalities in public policy by recognizing the importance of popular waste management praxis and knowledge, ultimately redefining the CE.
Highlights
Circular Economy PerspectivesThe idea of a circular economy (CE) has attracted a rising interest in global policy and business during recent years, to increase the sustainability of production and consumption [1,2,3]
The CE concept is emerging as a major topic in global policy and research, it had a significant impact on Chinese national policy and research already in the early 2000s e.g. [8,9], inspired by German and Japanese recycling policies to deal with the depletion of natural resources, the degradation of ecosystems, and pollution linked to accelerating industrialization [10]
We introduce ecological economy (EE) and social/solidarity economy (SSE) as a combined theoretical framework which helps us understand the multiple facets involved in CE
Summary
The idea of a circular economy (CE) has attracted a rising interest in global policy and business during recent years, to increase the sustainability of production and consumption [1,2,3]. The CE concept is emerging as a major topic in global policy and research, it had a significant impact on Chinese national policy and research already in the early 2000s e.g. [8,9], inspired by German and Japanese recycling policies to deal with the depletion of natural resources, the degradation of ecosystems, and pollution linked to accelerating industrialization [10]. During the last 10 years, the Chinese focus in CE has remained strong, and there is an increasing interest among
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