From Waste to Work: Exploring Social Practices in Urban E-Waste Infrastructure
A practice-based case study on E-waste disposal
M. Bolle (TU Delft - Architecture and the Built Environment)
Sanneke Kloppenburg – Mentor (Wageningen University & Research)
Jaco Quist – Mentor (TU Delft - Energy and Industry)
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Abstract
This thesis explores how electronic waste infrastructures influence everyday disposal and work practices, using the case study of the thrift store Het Warenhuis in Leiden, the Netherlands. Within the Netherlands municipalities face spatial, financial and legal difficulties when establishing Circular Craft Centres (CCC). The city of Leiden has adopted a so-called decentralized CCC model by outsourcing E-waste collection to an already existing thrift store. By employing Social Practice Theory, in particular the strands by Shove (2012) and Spaargaren (2003, 2011), this thesis contributes to the understanding of the connectivity of circular infrastructures and households. The study employs a qualitative approach which includes semi-structured interviews with visitors of the thrift store who donated electrical appliances and thrift store workers, participant observations, and document analysis. The findings reveal how the infrastructure of the thrift store lowers thresholds for households in circular practices, while limitations in space, staffing, and regulation hinder reuse and repair activities for the thrift store. By placing these results in the wider discussion about the circular economy and everyday life, this thesis contributes to a more practice-oriented understanding of electronic waste management. It considers the socio-material and spatial dimensions of circular infrastructures and offers practical implications for the design of Circular Craft Centres for other municipalites.