IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/jenpmg/v52y2009i2p177-194.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The construction of 'waste' in the UK steel industry

Author

Listed:
  • Fionn MacKillop

Abstract

The steel industry has undergone profound changes of late with high profile takeovers (Tata-Corus and Mittal-Arcelor) that are part of a shift of the industry from the global North to the global South. Steel is probably the material of the globalised world with its icons and power horses (the aeroplane, the cargo ship, the automobile), it is extremely flexible in its applications, and fits into the current discourse on 'sustainability' because it is 'recyclable'. Indeed, the industry is keen to stress its 'green' credentials and efficient management of material flows in a context of rising costs, particularly of raw materials. Paradoxically, steel tends to be seen, not least by the social sciences, as an 'old-fashioned' and 'dirty' industry. This paper explores this apparent paradox through the issue of 'waste' management in the industry because it allows an analysis of the multi-dimensional relationships between materials, technologies and practices. Drawing on the resources of social as well as material sciences, the paper analyses to what extent 'waste' management is an issue of objective material properties, in contrast to social and organisational perceptions and practices around materials.

Suggested Citation

  • Fionn MacKillop, 2009. "The construction of 'waste' in the UK steel industry," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 52(2), pages 177-194.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jenpmg:v:52:y:2009:i:2:p:177-194
    DOI: 10.1080/09640560802666529
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09640560802666529
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/09640560802666529?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    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:taf:jenpmg:v:52:y:2009:i:2:p:177-194. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/CJEP20 .

    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.