Single-use plastics and the Circular Economy. : An ANT enquiry in disciplining technologies and organisations.

Ferri, Marta and Stowell, Alison and Vurdubakis, Theodore (2025) Single-use plastics and the Circular Economy. : An ANT enquiry in disciplining technologies and organisations. PhD thesis, Lancaster University.

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Abstract

This study problematises plastic materials, business organisations and Circular Economy (CE) ideas within the context of the plastic crisis. Drawing upon CE literature and research (e.g., Murray et al., 2015; Calisto Friant et al., 2020; Dzhengiz et al., 2023), the discipline of humanities and social science in Waste Studies (e.g., Douglas, 1966, Hawkins, 2009; Liboiron, 2021) and the theoretical lens of Actor–Network Theory (ANT) (e.g., Callon 1986; Latour 1987; Law 1994), this research examines the efforts of the business-driven, member-based International Alliance for Sustainable Business (IASB), to tackle the plastic crisis. To do so, IASB attempts to organise a CE initiative focused on single-use plastic waste. Using empirical illustrations from the IASB case, this study aims to examine how understanding the way organisations engage with the CE informs us about the role of materials, such as plastics, and what the consequences of organisations attempting toadopt CE to address the plastic crisis are. It follows the interrelations between the IASB, their members, CE ideas and single-use plastics, defined here as technologies (Latour, 2013; Beyes et al., 2022), within the organising of a CE initiative. This research contribution is twofold. Analytically, it contributes to the Organisation Studies literature by exploring how organisations engage with the CE and how mundane technology other than IT (Orlikowski and Scott, 2008), such as single-use plastics, affects the process of organising. Using the theoretical lens of ANT emphasises the importance of problematising these technologies and their performative dimension with organisations. Empirically, the research provides insights into how organisations can organise CE initiatives effectively, focusing on the potential for circular agendas to either reinforce existing practices or promote innovation.