1. How the socio-materiality of waste shapes the conditions for markets Johan Hultman Hervé Corvellec Department of Service Studies Lund University Sweden Paper presented at the ESRN conference ’Embeddedness and Beyond’, October 27, Moscow

2. 1. Explain the socio-materiality of waste 2. Reflect over how waste socio- materialities shape the conditions for markets Aims of the presentation

3. Absence – presence Waste is often understood as a problem to be managed – make it disappear! But ’waste’ is a category of material assemblages – just like products and services – and the presence of waste in society shapes social life.

4. The socio-materiality of waste How waste is defined and dealt with, and the effects this has for the economy and the environment Waste demands bodily engagement: it smells, it needs space, it needs to be organized – the materiality of waste calls for attention all the time

5. But what is waste? A material category that is actively produced: ”…what happens in society is that people go to work, to school, to their businesses. And there material is produced. And this material we have decided to mix in a container, and then we call it waste. Because waste does not exist. There is no waste! There is only material! [But] into the container you put plastic. But plastic is not waste. Plastic is plastic. And you put in wood. And wood is wood. But we invented a word for it. And we call it waste.” (waste management company respondent, 2011)

6. Growth – scarcity Sweden is one example of a capitalist consumer society aimed at: 1. economic growth, but also… 2. …embedded in discourses of material scarcity and global environmental problems

7. Problem Solution Wasting materials environmentally wrong Define waste as a resource instead of a problem All economic objects are thoroughly cultural /…/ (David Stark, 2009) Economy – environment

8. Re-defining the socio-materiality of waste Sending waste to a landfill: make it disappear! = A dissociative waste socio-materiality that demands no particular engagement from waste producers (households, businesses, organizations, etc)

9. Re-defining the socio-materiality of waste Facilitating the sorting of waste at the point of its generation (e.g. multi-fraction waste bins) in order to make re-use and recycling possible = An associative waste socio-materiality that demands bodily engagement and new spatial arrangements among waste producers

10. The waste hierarchy

11. Waste socio-materialities Dissociative soc.-mat.

12. Waste socio-materialities Dissociative soc.-mat. Associative soc.-mat.

13. Waste socio-materialities Dissociative soc.-mat. Associative soc.-mat. Reflexive soc.-mat.

14. Waste hierarchy economics Recovery (waste-to-energy through incineration), recycling and re-use make waste into an economic object. This encourages growth and increased material circulation. Avoidance (not to produce waste at all) encourages new design practices, thrift, maintenance and repair. This means decreased material circulation.

15. The conditions for markets Through its contradictory maximization- minimization logic, the waste hierarchy defines the socio-materiality of waste differently

16. The conditions for markets Through its contradictory maximization- minimization logics, the waste hierarchy defines the socio-materiality of waste differently Dissociative, associative and reflexive waste socio- materialities fix the relation between economy and environment in different ways

17. The conditions for markets Through its contradictory maximization- minimization logics, the waste hierarchy defines the socio-materiality of waste differently Dissociative, associative and reflexive waste socio- materialities fix the relation between economy and environment in different ways How economy and environment are fixed in relation to each other shape the conditions for markets

18. Dissociative waste markets Associative waste markets For mixed materials (to make incineration facilities work optimally) For energy and district heating For increasingly sorted materials For infrastructures and services that facilitate sorting Brokers’ services for materials For example…

19. …and reflexive waste markets For infrastructures that facilitate avoidance For services that results in avoidance of waste in production (fx molecular-level design) For services that decrease the intensity of consumption (fx personal environmental coach) For repair and maintenance skills

20. Conclusions Waste socio-materiality: …is economically performative …shapes the conditions for markets …might affect the politics of consumption by encouraging reflection among waste producers

21. Thank you for your attention! johan.hultman@ism.lu.se herve.corvellec@ism.lu.se