Path-dependencies in the transition to sustainable biowaste valorization: Lessons from a socio-technical analysis of Sweden and Greece
Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: Achieving sustainable biowaste management is a key challenge for cities worldwide. In this context, biowaste valorization is an indispensable option for managing unavoidable biowaste and reducing the associated methane emissions. Several innovations that enable biowaste valorization are technologically mature. However, their implementation is still limited in most cities around the world. Therefore, it is essential to better understand the different transition pathways towards implementing biowaste valorization. This paper addresses two countries at different phases in their transition to biowaste valorization: Sweden as a case at a mature phase and Greece as a case at a formative phase. We apply the Technological Innovation Systems framework to investigate how innovation systems for biowaste valorization develop and associated path-dependencies. Our findings show that various path-dependence lock-ins can occur at different transition phases. Our empirical insights suggest that a focus on the diffusion of certain mature innovations can support the growth of biowaste valorization systems. However, it can also lead to path-dependence lock-ins that influence the systems’ resilience to shocks. We thus recommend that decision-makers should find balance between the rapid diffusion of mature innovations for biowaste valorization and parallel support for experimenting with more radical innovations to harness the systems’ resilience to shocks.
Source: Waste Management
Institution: KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Global and Planetary Change
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,280
Funder: Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan
OpenAlex ID: W4404659671