The role of proximity in environmental upgrading: plastics recycling in Norwegian aquaculture

Abstract

End-of-life environmental upgrading can contribute to more sustainable use of natural resources. The authors look at recycling as end-of-life environmental upgrading and explore what influences recycling of discarded hard plastic equipment in the Norwegian aquaculture industry. They study the role of institutional, geographical, and social proximity in environmental upgrading of the plastics value chain in aquaculture and combine the concepts of environmental upgrading, proximity, and cost-capability ratio into a framework to understand better the conditions for end-of-life environmental upgrading. The findings reveal that material properties can be crucial for end-of-life environmental upgrading, as they can both influence costs of environmental upgrading and require development of new capabilities for environmental upgrading. To balance the costs and capabilities related to environmental upgrading, actors need to take geographical, institutional, and social dimensions of proximity into account. In conclusion, the development of recycling solutions in global value chains, such as end- of-life environmental upgrading, is affected by how proximity influences costs and drives development of capabilities.