Material politics in circular economy

The complex transformation of manure surplus into a resource

Abstract

Circular economy has become one of the key targets of environmental policy in Finland within the recent years. The models of circular economy introduce a transition from take-make -dispose economy to closed material loops but do not provide clear guidelines of how the transition is supposed to be made. In this article, we ask what we can learn óf the broader societal tensions related to circular economy from individual pilots. We focus on the struggle of one pioneering company in Finland to turn the manure surplus of intensive pig farming into a resource for fertiliser and energy production. We investigate the novel circular economy solutions as political technologies which rearrange the existing metabolic relations thus opening up new pathways for intensive animal production. Simultaneoyusly, they also clash with various technologies of governance stabilising the existing status quo.  These clashes manifest the underlying tensions of circular economy transition which do not articulate as open conflicts in public arenas.   We claim, that to understand the multiplicity of potentially contested interests, solidarities and path dependencies included in the circular economy policies and actions, there is a need to carefully investigate the sociomaterial barriers and enablers that concrete circular economy projects encounter.