Varieties of Recycling Work

Abstract

Many of us will be familiar with the recycling logo, its self-chasing arrows symbolising the possibility of objects continually cycling between consumers and producers. Our book has explored how this cycling of goods is mediated through a series of networks and systems that seek to realise its market and societal value. Crucial to this realisation is the work performed by a range of interlinked industries and actors, including consumers, operating within different economic domains and organised at a distinct stage of the overall recycling process. Capturing value from household waste is by no means straightforward, and integrated systems of waste management depend upon coordinated infrastructures organised by the state, private and not-forprofit organisations that in turn rely on cooperation from households that present their materials in a particular way according to the demands of this local system. It has been our argument that consumers play a crucial role in capturing this value from waste, although in Sweden and England the varied systems of provision and divisions of responsibility determine how far the actions of the consumer can generate economic value for different institutional actors. In tracing how the actions of consumers interdepend with the work of others across a range of industries and organisations, we have made our case for recognising ‘consumption work’ as a significant field of work, deserving recognition in its own right and calling for the revision of our understanding of divisions of labour within society.