Canning in the City: Informal Recycling and the Question of Legitimacy in Urban Public Space

This chapter explores the informal recycling of cans and bottles, or “canning”, as a routine activity in urban public space. In Finland, over 90 per cent of cans and bottles are recycled through a nationwide deposit-based system, indicating that recycling is a common practice across society. However, the collecting of cans and bottles and their return in exchange for a monetary deposit also turns recycling into an informal livelihood activity. This ethnographic study explores the everyday actions and experiences of informal recyclers as they navigate public spaces and negotiate the legitimacy of their work at the grassroots of society. The study shows that canning is neither secure nor idle, but a laborious process involving the active agency of individuals who manage their work by getting ready, doing the job, doing the other job(s) and getting the bigger picture. Canning emerges as a professional activity practised by skilled individuals who balance their actions and interactions with others against what is moral, valued or necessary. The study shows that canners are actors in the recycling process and contributors to the cleanliness and circularity of our cities. The study proposes further research on informal recycling and recyclers in the Nordic context.