ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on two key bodies of existing geographical research to focus on how different systems of governance in Melbourne and Sheffield, influence the effective circulation of household goods. It explores some of the more common routes of reuse in the two cities, considering the range of actors, the various rationalities invoked in different reuse channels, and some of their spatial and temporal characteristics, along with issues of infrastructure. The chapter draws the disjunctures between the rationalities of policy around waste management and minimisation, and the complexities of actors, processes, spaces, meanings and purposes involved in routes of reuse. Waste management policy and associated reduction targets in the United Kingdom are strongly influenced by top-down imperatives set out in the EU Landfill Directive. A common criticism from proponents of ecological modernisation is that reuse is better considered a cottage industry rather than a significant means for reducing consumption or waste.
