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

Bozkurt, Odul and Stowell, Alison Frances (2016) Skills in the green economy : recycling promises in the UK e-waste management sector. New Technology, Work and Employment, 31 (2). pp. 146-160. ISSN 0268-1072

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Abstract

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.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
New Technology, Work and Employment
Additional Information:
This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Bozkurt, Ö. and Stowell, A. (2016), Skills in the green economy: recycling promises in the UK e-waste management sector. New Technology, Work and Employment, 31: 146–160. doi: 10.1111/ntwe.12066 which has been published in final form at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ntwe.12066/abstract This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance With Wiley Terms and Conditions for self-archiving.
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3307
Subjects:
?? green economygreen skillse-waste managementrepair and reuseskills policyrecyclingskills supply and demandhuman factors and ergonomicsstrategy and managementmanagement of technology and innovation ??
ID Code:
79971
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
08 Jun 2016 14:30
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
10 Jan 2024 00:20