IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ijurrs/v46y2022i5p749-765.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

THE STATE OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY: Waste Valorization in Hong Kong and Rotterdam

Author

Listed:
  • Viktor Wildeboer
  • Federico Savini

Abstract

The concept of the circular economy has gained significant political momentum because it offers policymakers a viable approach to tackling resource depletion, reducing waste and promoting economic development all at the same time. Current research, however, only focuses on the technological feasibility of this model, overlooking circularity's inherent contradiction: namely, that it valorizes waste rather than reducing it. This article tackles this limit by questioning the role of the state in what we describe as ‘waste valorization’. It interrogates the urban political ecology of construction and demolition waste, the largest stream of inert materials in the world. It analyses CDW's geographies and economic position in urban development and the shifting rationales by which it is governed. To do this, it compares historical shifts in how CDW has been regulated in Hong Kong and Rotterdam. The article shows that waste is no longer an abject residual of urbanization, but a driver of urban development and a burgeoning sphere of accumulation in ecological capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Viktor Wildeboer & Federico Savini, 2022. "THE STATE OF THE CIRCULAR ECONOMY: Waste Valorization in Hong Kong and Rotterdam," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 749-765, September.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:46:y:2022:i:5:p:749-765
    DOI: 10.1111/1468-2427.13122
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2427.13122
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1468-2427.13122?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bob Jessop & Ngai-Ling Sum, 2000. "An Entrepreneurial City in Action: Hong Kong's Emerging Strategies in and for (Inter)Urban Competition," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(12), pages 2287-2313, November.
    2. Fenna Blomsma & Geraldine Brennan, 2017. "The Emergence of Circular Economy: A New Framing Around Prolonging Resource Productivity," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 603-614, June.
    3. Josh Lepawsky & Grace Akese & Mostaem Billah & Creighton Conolly & Chris McNabb, 2015. "Composing Urban Orders from Rubbish Electronics: Cityness and the Site Multiple," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 185-199, March.
    4. Jianguo Chen & Yangyue Su & Hongyun Si & Jindao Chen, 2018. "Managerial Areas of Construction and Demolition Waste: A Scientometric Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, October.
    5. Federico Savini, 2021. "The circular economy of waste: recovery, incineration and urban reuse," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 64(12), pages 2114-2132, July.
    6. Michel Aglietta & Régis Breton, 2001. "Financial systems, corporate control, and capital accumulation," Post-Print halshs-00256788, HAL.
    7. Massarutto, Antonio, 2007. "Municipal waste management as a local utility: Options for competition in an environmentally-regulated industry," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 9-19, March.
    8. Simin Davoudi, 2009. "Scalar tensions in the governance of waste: the resilience of state spatial Keynesianism," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(2), pages 137-156.
    9. Matthew Gandy, 2004. "Rethinking urban metabolism: water, space and the modern city," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 8(3), pages 363-379, December.
    10. Federico Savini & Mendel Giezen, 2020. "Responsibility as a field: The circular economy of water, waste, and energy," Environment and Planning C, , vol. 38(5), pages 866-884, August.
    11. Veraart, Frank, 2019. "Land or lakes: Gravel excavation in Dutch spatial and resources policies through the lens of sustainability developments, 1950–2015," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 367-374.
    12. Maria Kaika & Erik Swyngedouw, 2000. "Fetishizing the modern city: the phantasmagoria of urban technological networks," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 120-138, March.
    13. Fujii, Tomoki & Ray, Rohan, 2019. "Singapore as a sustainable city: Past, present and the future," Economics and Statistics Working Papers 18-2019, Singapore Management University, School of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hui Feng & Yirong Li & Renyan Mu & Lei Wu, 2023. "The Impact of Investment Efficiency in the Digital Economy on Urban Waste Reduction: Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-15, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ramesh, Niranjana, 2022. "An experiment with the minor geographies of major cities: infrastructural relations among the fragments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 114952, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Franciszek Chwałczyk, 2020. "Around the Anthropocene in Eighty Names—Considering the Urbanocene Proposition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-33, May.
    3. COLIN McFARLANE, 2008. "Governing the Contaminated City: Infrastructure and Sanitation in Colonial and Post‐Colonial Bombay," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(2), pages 415-435, June.
    4. Ian R. Cook & Erik Swyngedouw, 2012. "Cities, Social Cohesion and the Environment: Towards a Future Research Agenda," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 49(9), pages 1959-1979, July.
    5. Kristian Saguin, 2017. "Producing an urban hazardscape beyond the city," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 49(9), pages 1968-1985, September.
    6. Gutberlet, Melissa & Preuss, Lutz & Thorpe, Andrea Stevenson, 2023. "Macro level matters: Advancing circular economy in different business systems within Europe," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    7. Hillary Angelo & Christine Hentschel, 2015. "Interactions with infrastructure as windows into social worlds: A method for critical urban studies: Introduction," City, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2-3), pages 306-312, June.
    8. Matthew Gandy, 2006. "Water, Sanitation and the Modern City: Colonial and Post-colonial Experiences in Lagos and Mumbai," Human Development Occasional Papers (1992-2007) HDOCPA-2006-06, Human Development Report Office (HDRO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
    9. Joshi, Nupur & Gerlak, Andrea K. & Hannah, Corrie & Lopus, Sara & Krell, Natasha & Evans, Tom, 2023. "Water insecurity, housing tenure, and the role of informal water services in Nairobi’s slum settlements," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    10. Jochen Monstadt, 2009. "Conceptualizing the Political Ecology of Urban Infrastructures: Insights from Technology and Urban Studies," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(8), pages 1924-1942, August.
    11. Greet De Block, 2016. "Ecological infrastructure in a critical-historical perspective: From engineering ‘social’ territory to encoding ‘natural’ topography," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(2), pages 367-390, February.
    12. Niranjana R, 2022. "An experiment with the minor geographies of major cities: Infrastructural relations among the fragments," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 59(8), pages 1556-1574, June.
    13. Bradley L Garrett, 2016. "Picturing urban subterranea: Embodied aesthetics of London’s sewers," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 48(10), pages 1948-1966, October.
    14. Valentin Meilinger & Jochen Monstadt, 2022. "FROM THE SANITARY CITY TO THE CIRCULAR CITY? Technopolitics of Wastewater Restructuring in Los Angeles, California," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(2), pages 182-201, March.
    15. Timothy Moss & Frank Hüesker, 2019. "Politicised nexus thinking in practice: Integrating urban wastewater utilities into regional energy markets," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 56(11), pages 2225-2241, August.
    16. Timothy Moss, 2009. "Intermediaries and the Governance of Sociotechnical Networks in Transition," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 41(6), pages 1480-1495, June.
    17. Idalina Baptista, 2015. "‘We Live on Estimates': Everyday Practices of Prepaid Electricity and the Urban Condition in Maputo, Mozambique," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 1004-1019, September.
    18. Davide Bruno & Marinella Ferrara & Felice D’Alessandro & Alberto Mandelli, 2022. "The Role of Design in the CE Transition of the Furniture Industry—The Case of the Italian Company Cassina," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-20, July.
    19. Monia Niero & Charlotte L. Jensen & Chiara Farné Fratini & Jens Dorland & Michael S. Jørgensen & Susse Georg, 2021. "Is life cycle assessment enough to address unintended side effects from Circular Economy initiatives?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 25(5), pages 1111-1120, October.
    20. H.-Ping Tserng & Cheng-Mo Chou & Yun-Tsui Chang, 2021. "The Key Strategies to Implement Circular Economy in Building Projects—A Case Study of Taiwan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-16, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ijurrs:v:46:y:2022:i:5:p:749-765. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0309-1317 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.