Abstract
Waste and its connections to a profligate consumerism have become a core concern for public policy in the developed nations in the twenty-first century. Whether the focus is food or mobile phones, computers or electrical goods, waste — and particularly post-consumer waste — is never far from view and moral concern. Reports have shown how at least a third of the food produced by the planet ends up not on the plate but as food waste (WRAP, 2008; Stuart, 2009; IME, 2013). Trends to faster manufacturer product cycles, cheaper products undermining the economics of repair, and technology and fashion-induced pressures to upgrade goods are seen to be critical to the emergence of ‘a throwaway society’ (Packard, 1960; Strasser, 2000; Cooper T. H, 2005, 2010; see also Gregson et al., 2007a). In the EU it is accepted that this has to change. A wave of policy initiatives has identified minimising and preventing waste as central to sustainable futures.
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© 2015 Nicky Gregson and Mike Crang
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Gregson, N., Crang, M. (2015). Waste, Resource Recovery and Labour: Recycling Economies in the EU. In: Michie, J., Cooper, C.L. (eds) Why the Social Sciences Matter. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137269928_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137269928_5
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