IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v17y2025i8p3328-d1630740.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Participating and Labouring in Circular Transitions: The Case of Community Food Rescue/Redistribution Initiatives in Singapore

Author

Listed:
  • Qian Hui Tan

    (Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent #07-01 AS8, Singapore 119260, Singapore)

  • Brenda Saw Ai Yeoh

    (Asia Research Institute and the Department of Geography, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent #07-01 AS8, Singapore 119260, Singapore)

Abstract

With some exceptions, the nexus between diverse ecologies of participation and unwaged labour in circular transitions has not been fully investigated. Additionally, while research on labour and the circular economy has begun to acknowledge the informal unpaid work that is indispensable to closing circularity loops in the household and community, its relational aspects are still discounted in the literature. We seek to address these gaps through our case study on emerging community food rescue/redistribution initiatives in Singapore. Increasingly, these initiatives are gaining success in garnering volunteer labour involving care/relational work through their diverse models of engagement, which cater to a range of preferences. We offer a perspective suggesting that volunteers are often able to find rich regimes of value in the work that they do despite being unpaid. Future research can perhaps explore the ethics of exploiting one’s care for the environment and community in order to extract this unwaged labour.

Suggested Citation

  • Qian Hui Tan & Brenda Saw Ai Yeoh, 2025. "Participating and Labouring in Circular Transitions: The Case of Community Food Rescue/Redistribution Initiatives in Singapore," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-13, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3328-:d:1630740
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3328/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/8/3328/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Juana Camacho-Otero & Casper Boks & Ida Nilstad Pettersen, 2018. "Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-25, August.
    2. Deborah Sumter & Jotte de Koning & Conny Bakker & Ruud Balkenende, 2021. "Key Competencies for Design in a Circular Economy: Exploring Gaps in Design Knowledge and Skills for a Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-15, January.
    3. Qinglan Liu & Adriana Hofmann Trevisan & Miying Yang & Janaina Mascarenhas, 2022. "A framework of digital technologies for the circular economy: Digital functions and mechanisms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2171-2192, July.
    4. Francesca Ciulli & Ans Kolk & Siri Boe-Lillegraven, 2020. "Circularity Brokers: Digital Platform Organizations and Waste Recovery in Food Supply Chains," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 167(2), pages 299-331, November.
    5. Tanja Schneider & Karin Eli, 2023. "The digital labor of ethical food consumption: a new research agenda for studying everyday food digitalization," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(2), pages 489-500, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Langley, David J. & Rosca, Eugenia & Angelopoulos, Marios & Kamminga, Oscar & Hooijer, Christa, 2023. "Orchestrating a smart circular economy: Guiding principles for digital product passports," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    2. Natália Rohenkohl do Canto & Klaus G. Grunert & Marcia Dutra De Barcellos, 2021. "Circular Food Behaviors: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-27, February.
    3. Mechthild Donner & Anne Verniquet & Jan Broeze & Katrin Kayser & Hugo de Vries, 2021. "Critical success and risk factors for circular business models valorising agricultural waste and by-products," Post-Print hal-03004851, HAL.
    4. 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.
    5. María Belén Prados-Peña & Francisco Jesús Gálvez-Sánchez & Pedro Núñez-Cacho & Valentín Molina-Moreno, 2024. "Intention to purchase sustainable craft products: a moderated mediation analysis of the adoption of sustainability in the craft sector," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(1), pages 775-797, January.
    6. S. Bhattacharya & R. Ajwani-Ramchandani & Shishir Kumar Jha & C.J. Chiappetta Jabbour & V.G. Venkatesh, 2023. "Prologue for the Virtual Special Issue on Social Circular Consumption- Exploring the Role of the Bottom of Pyramid," Post-Print hal-04458204, HAL.
    7. Farrukh Rafiq & Mohd Adil & Mohd Sadiq, 2022. "Does Contextual Factor Influence Travelers’ Towel Reuse Behavior? Insights from Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-16, May.
    8. Anna Kremel, 2024. "Consumer Behaviour in a Circular System – How Values Promote and Hinder the Participation of Young Adults in the Swedish Deposit-Refund System for Beverage Packaging," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 1427-1446, June.
    9. João M. Lopes & Sofia Gomes & Tiago Trancoso, 2023. "The Dark Side of Green Marketing: How Greenwashing Affects Circular Consumption?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-17, July.
    10. Ahmad, Farhan & Bask, Anu & Laari, Sini & Robinson, Craig V., 2023. "Business management perspectives on the circular economy: Present state and future directions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    11. Gianmarco Bressanelli & Federico Adrodegari & Daniela C. A. Pigosso & Vinit Parida, 2022. "Towards the Smart Circular Economy Paradigm: A Definition, Conceptualization, and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, April.
    12. Marcos Ferasso & Tatiana Beliaeva & Sascha Kraus & Thomas Clauss & Domingo Ribeiro‐Soriano, 2020. "Circular economy business models: The state of research and avenues ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3006-3024, December.
    13. Anna Barford & Saffy Rose Ahmad, 2021. "A Call for a Socially Restorative Circular Economy: Waste Pickers in the Recycled Plastics Supply Chain," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 761-782, September.
    14. Odette Lobato-Calleros & Karla Fabila-Rodríguez & Brian Roberts, 2022. "Methodology to Improve the Acceptance and Adoption of Circular and Social Economy: A Longitudinal Case Study of a Biodiesel Cooperative," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(19), pages 1-34, September.
    15. Abdulkarim Hasan Rashed & Afzal Shah, 2021. "The role of private sector in the implementation of sustainable development goals," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(3), pages 2931-2948, March.
    16. Kristina Auxtova & Stephanie Schreven & Lucy J. Wishart, 2025. "Refashioning Second-Hand Clothes Consumption Through Pleasure, Pain, Seduction and Conversion: A Virtue Ethics Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 196(4), pages 863-881, February.
    17. George Mihail Man & Daniela Zamfir & Daniel Diaconescu & Andra-Victoria Radu & Florentina Aldea & Georgeta Ionescu, 2025. "The Role of Digital Technologies and Intellectual Property Management in Driving Sustainable Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(7), pages 1-23, April.
    18. Roberto Hernández-Chea & Akriti Jain & Nancy M. P. Bocken & Anjula Gurtoo, 2021. "The Business Model in Sustainability Transitions: A Conceptualization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-25, May.
    19. Sehrish Atif, 2023. "Mapping circular economy principles and servitisation approach in business model canvas: an integrated literature review," Future Business Journal, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 1-21, December.
    20. Pedro Manuel Sousa & Maria João Moreira & Ana Pinto de Moura & Rui Costa Lima & Luís Miguel Cunha, 2021. "Consumer Perception of the Circular Economy Concept Applied to the Food Domain: An Exploratory Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(20), pages 1-20, October.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:8:p:3328-:d:1630740. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.