Nice Save: The Moral Economies of Recycling in England and Sweden

Abstract

My aim in this paper is to develop the concept of moral economy by exploring how moral principles intertwine and interact with forms of economic organisation. Through applying a holistic moral economy framework (Bolton and Laaser, 2013), informed by the writings of Polanyi (1944Polanyi ( , 1957, Thompson (1993) and Sayer (2000Sayer ( , 2005Sayer ( , 2011, this paper explores institutional variations in the moral economies of recycling, at the same time as paying attention to those lay normativities that shape consumer's everyday interactions with their waste. The starting point for this paper comes from the observation that moral messages used to promote recycling differ between Sweden and England. In Sweden, the protection and stewardship of the natural environment are key tropes whereas in England recycling is variously promoted as an action that saves the environment and public money. I show that the content of these moral messages is closely related to the system of recycling provision within a country, together shaping nationally distinct moral economies of recycling.

The moral economy of ready‐made food

“…In recent years, there has been a proliferation of studies using the term ‘moral economy’ to account for the rise of ethical consumption movements and food politics (Goodman ; Jackson, Ward and Russell ; Adams and Raisborough ; Wheeler ; Morgan ; Wilson and Jackson ). The concept has gained much currency in the field of human geography to explore how moralities are mobilized across geographical scales, reflecting established power asymmetries between producing and consuming countries.…”

“…I propose a framework for capturing this relational moral economy of consumption that builds on the work of Bolton and Laaser (2013) in the field of work and employment (see also Wheeler 2014Wheeler , 2017. The framework proposed by Bolton and Laaser draws together three strands of the study of moral economy from the writings of Karl Polanyi (1944Polanyi ( , 1957, E.P.…”

‘It's Kind of Saving them a Job isn't it?’ The Consumption Work of Household Recycling

“…Recycling consumption work is often coordinated with existing routines within the household suggesting that other forms of unpaid domestic labour (like cooking and gardening) ought to be explored in this relational complex. Moral norms, such as environmental citizenship, and legal sanctions play an important role in encouraging consumers to participate in this work (see Wheeler, forthcoming).…”

Spaces for waste: everyday recycling and sociospatial relationships

“…The EU promotes recycling legislatively, via the Waste Framework Directive, and by monitoring implementation in member states (EC, 2008). Sweden has a relatively long history of material recycling, promoted by the Government in policy in the 1970s and enacted into legislation in the 1980s (Wheeler, 2014). Statistics show that Sweden is among the top 10 countries in the EU in terms of material recycling, but comparisons between different countries are difficult since data collection varies (EEA, 2018).…”

“…Over the last 20 years, two parallel systems for managing household waste have gradually been implemented by national law in Sweden: producer responsibility for packaging materials such as paper, metal, glass and plastics as well as electric appliances and car tyres; and local authority responsibility for biodegradable, toxic and combustible waste (SEPA, 2012). The institutional systems of provision that have been put in place in Sweden proved to be important for the high performance of waste management in Sweden (Wheeler, 2014). Actors such as the state, local councils and not-for-profit organisations have shaped systems and services that encourage consumers to contribute their own efforts to sort waste and bring it to collection points.…”