In the beginning was the waste …

Chapter 7 presents an examination of four GDNs (those involved in disassembling e-waste, ocean-going ships, used motor vehicles, and paper products). In each case, we focus upon the labour embedded within each GDN and how this shapes the process of disassembly. Through this coverage, the chapter emphasizes three things. The first of these is that places of disassembly are by no means endpoints or final destinations in global commodity chains/networks but also sites of production initiation, securing raw materials that will eventually be used in new goods. Second, the chapter observes that how GDNs are structured and how the labour processes imbricated within them operate can have important implications for how products are designed, with the principle ‘designing for disassembly’ becoming more accepted. Third, much of this waste processing is dependent upon ‘informal’ labour.