University of Sussex
Browse
ntwe12066.pdf (105.69 kB)

Skills in the green economy: recycling promises in the UK e-waste management sector

Download (105.69 kB)
Version 2 2023-06-12, 06:40
Version 1 2023-06-09, 01:38
journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-12, 06:40 authored by Odul BozkurtOdul Bozkurt, Alison Stowell
In advanced economies the ‘greening’ of the economy is widely seen as promising extensive job creation and upskilling, alongside its other benefits. In popular and policy rhetoric, the growing importance of ‘green skills’ is asserted frequently. This paper critically examines these claims within the context of the electronic waste management sector in the UK. Drawing on the cases of a non profit organisation and a small private enterprise in North West England, we observe that despite government support for developing skills in e-waste, both the development and utilisation of skills remain minimal. Critically, the relatively more skill-intensive process of reuse is substantially less profitable than recycling and resource capture. The paper concludes by noting that the expectations from the green economy for high quality jobs need to be assessed within the context of similar, misplaced celebrations of previous transformations of work in order to avoid recycling the same promises.

History

Publication status

  • Published

File Version

  • Published version

Journal

New Technology, Work and Employment

ISSN

0268-1072

Publisher

Wiley

Issue

2

Volume

31

Page range

146-160

Department affiliated with

  • Business and Management Publications

Full text available

  • Yes

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2016-06-10

First Open Access (FOA) Date

2016-07-25

First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date

2016-06-10

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Licence

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC