South China Morning Post. The View by Sophie Zinser, Published: 10:00pm, 13 Jan, 2021
Embracing a circular economy is a lucrative opportunity to design out waste and pollution, keep materials in use and regenerate natural systems. If done correctly, it can combat forced labour by professionalising a mostly informal workforce
Before the violent attacks at the US Capitol this week, President Donald Trump had issued an executive order on the last day of 2020 declaring January 2021 National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month in the United States.
The Trump administration has repeatedly exploited the issue of modern slavery for political gain without enacting comprehensive policies supporting victims. However, combating modern slavery remains one of the few issues maintaining support across party lines in America and globally.
In recent months, governments around the world have pledged stronger measures towards combating modern slavery, in particular forced labour. The jury is out on the depth of their commitment to solving the problem, though. To tackle forced labour in 2021, policies must consider the causes of wasteful overproduction cycles that contribute to trapping people in exploitative circumstances.
Embracing a circular economy approach is a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity to design out waste and pollution, keep materials in use and regenerate natural systems. If done correctly, a circular economy can combat forced labour through professionalising a largely informal workforce – a valuable step towards eradicating modern slavery once and for all.
Modern slavery – loosely defined as the severe exploitation of individuals for personal or commercial gain – affects an estimated 40 million people annually. Two-thirds of them are victims of forced labour along Asia’s web of corporate global supply chains. Forced labour occurs when people work against their will or under threat of penalty.
In 2020, Covid-19 revealed our economy’s reliance on forced labour. Exposés highlighting cramped living conditions in worker dormitories and fast fashion brands such as Boohoo’s labour rights violations made international headlines. When consumers across the world purchase products with little knowledge of how or who made the products they use, they implicitly consent to the labour practices that produce them and thereby reinforce forced labour’s grip on the global workforce.
In contrast, the circular economy is most commonly seen as a recycling and waste management strategy. More than just a trend, experts estimate that breaking with traditional linear modes of production will become inevitable as a way to both protect our deteriorating environment and boost global economic growth.
In reality, even small steps towards building a circular economy can create positive impacts across multiple sectors. Job growth, revenue spikes and alleviating environmental disaster risks can all be side effects of successful circular economy approaches.
However, current narratives on the circular economy often neglect to mention the workers, consumers and global communities that would be redesigned – or designed out – in the process.
Once the circular economy becomes more advanced, jobs already being replaced through automation or that are tied to extractive industries such as coal and oil would decline. This creates a lag between labourers losing work and being integrated into more skilled roles, leaving hundreds of thousands struggling to put food on the table.
