Turning waste into resources and resources into waste: Centralised waste-to-energy nexuses and alternative modes of nexusing in Hanoi

• Published in: Urban studies (Edinburgh, Scotland) Scotland), 2019-08, Vol.56 (11), p.2315-2332
• Main Authors: Schramm, Sophie, Mai, Nguyen Thi Thanh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Alternatives; Colonialism; Energy; Infrastructure; Recycling; Redefinition; Rural areas; Rural communities; Sewage; Sewage disposal; Urban planning; Waste management; Waste to energy; Wastes
• ISSN: 0042-0980; 1360-063X
• DOI: 10.1177/0042098018797844

Modern infrastructure systems serve to separate urban flows of water, sewage, waste and energy. However, ideas concerning the combination of these flows to achieve resource efficiency have shaped Hanoi’s urban planning since the colonial era. Today, dominant visions of the generation of energy from waste have led to a redefinition of what is ‘waste’ that largely ignores ‘alternative modes of nexusing’, established industries of recycling operating across the city. These industries are intertwined with and overlap provincial waste management and perpetually exist beyond state-led planning and urban–rural boundaries. The case of Hanoi reveals the exclusionary and disruptive potential of predominant visions of the urban nexus, as socio-managerial conceptions obscure and potentially displace alternative modes of nexusing. We argue that opening the view to alternative modes of nexusing as part of heterogeneous infrastructures not only challenges conventional analyses of the urban nexus that exclude marginalised practices and people, but also has important policy implications for waste management and recycling in Hanoi. 现代基础设施系统用于分离城市的水，污水，废物和能源流。然而，自殖民时代以，将这些流相结合以实现资源效率的想法一直塑造着河内的城市规划。今天，利用废物生产能源的主导愿景已经导致重新定义什么是“废物”，因为既有的定义在很大程度上忽略了在城市中进行回收利用的已建立的行业的“替代性相互关系模式”。这些行业与省级废物管理交织在一起并重叠，并且超越国家主导的规划和城乡边界长期存在。河内的案例揭示了城市关系的主要愿景的排他性和颠覆性潜力，因为社会管理概念会使替代性关系关系模式模糊不清，并排挤这些模式。我们认为，作为异构基础设施的一部分，替代性关系模式的观点不仅挑战了排除边缘化实践和人群的城市关系的传统分析，而且对河内的废物管理和回收也具有重要的政策含义。