e-Waste trading zones and the economy of greening: Imbricating computer sourcing in the pre- and post-WEEE Directive era

Abstract

Purpose

In the context of the environmental impacts caused due to the increasing volumes of discarded technologies (e-Waste), this paper aims to critically evaluate whether environmental policy, the Waste of Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) legislation in particular can contribute to a shift in logic from neoliberal growth to green growth.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing upon empirical research, this paper shows how three computer waste organisations evolve through the imbrication of pre- and post-policy logics in collaborative and heterogeneous ways to create an “economy of greening”.

Findings

Extending the concept of a fractionated trading zone, this paper demonstrates the heterogeneous ways in which computer sourcing is imbricated, providing a taxonomy of imbricating logics. It is argued that what is shared in a fractionated trading zone is a diversity of imbrications. This provides for a nuanced perspective on policy and the management of waste, showing how post-WEEE logics become the condition to continue to pursue pre-WEEE logics.

Research limitations/implications

This research focuses on three organisations and the EU 2003 and UK 2006 versions of the WEEE legislation.

Practical implications

The research findings have important implications, more specifically, for how e-Waste policy is enacted as an “economy of greening” to constitute managerial and organisational adaptation needed to create a sustainable economy and society.

Originality/value

This paper’s contribution is threefold. First, theoretically, the literature on trading zones and imbrication is extended by considering how they can complement one another. Our focus on imbrication is a “zooming in” on the managerial and organisational implications and dynamics of a trading zone. Second, the literature on imbrication is added to by identifying a diverse range of imbricating logics that can be used to discern a more nuanced understanding of the translated effects of policy. Last, these ideas are ground in a relevant empirical context – that of e-waste management in the UK, providing a deeper knowledge, over time, of specific actors’ translations of policy into organisational practices.

Citation

Stowell, A.F. and Brigham, M. (2019), "e-Waste trading zones and the economy of greening: Imbricating computer sourcing in the pre- and post-WEEE Directive era", Society and Business Review, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 155-173. https://doi.org/10.1108/SBR-12-2017-0114