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

Abstract

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.