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Hervé Corvellec.

Hervé Corvellec

Professor

Hervé Corvellec.

A performative definition of waste prevention

Author

  • Hervé Corvellec

Summary, in English

The increasing importance being placed on waste prevention in European waste governance raises the question of how waste prevention is defined in practice. This paper presents a qualitative analysis of a sample of fifty-one Swedish waste prevention initiatives with the purpose of identifying which kind of actions are imagined, promoted, and set into motion under the label of waste prevention. The analysis shows that despite their apparent variety, the initiatives in the sample boil down to three main types of actions: raising awareness about the need to prevent waste, increasing material efficiency, and developing sustainable consumption. In contradistinction to the formal definition of waste prevention in the European Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC), what emerges from analyzing the initiatives in the sample is a performative definition of waste prevention as something heterogeneous, contradictory, and evolving. Such a definition of waste prevention in practice provides an understanding of the organizational dynamics of waste prevention.

Department/s

  • Department of Service Studies

Publishing year

2016

Language

English

Pages

3-13

Publication/Series

Waste Management: international journal of integrated waste management, science and technology

Volume

52

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Social Sciences Interdisciplinary

Keywords

  • Waste prevention
  • Sustainable consumption
  • Performative definition
  • Material efficiency

Status

Published

Project

  • From waste management to waste prevention. Closing implementation gaps through sustainable action nets

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0956-053X