Embrace sustainable, circular economy to end demand for forced labour

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

Sophie Zinser

Published: 10:00pm, 13 Jan 2021

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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.

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Currently, workers in low- and middle-income countries are the most reliant on the world’s linear manufacturing streams. If exports from extractive industries, plastics or fast fashion products decline, developing economies might be among the first to suffer.

In contrast, these countries would also be early beneficiaries of eliminating global waste. Billions of people in the developing world currently lack access to adequate waste collection.

The International Labour Organisation estimates global net growth of 6 million jobs by 2030 tied to the circular economy, notably in waste management. With proper investment on the part of companies, governments and civil society initiatives, a circular economy could actually improve labour opportunities through bringing jobs to developing nations.

Big steps towards bringing better – not just more – employment opportunities lie in ensuring transparency and accountability throughout the circular economic transition. This takes substantial financial resources. Urgent public and economic health concerns are currently the major agenda items for governments and companies.

However, governments, investors and consumers are increasingly pressuring companies to adopt economic, social and governance (ESG) reporting. ESG promises to improve transparency for business practices and provide the world with robust information on labour across global supply chains.

More than just a box-ticking exercise, ESG is an enduring first step towards solidifying a circular economy and increasing global labour standards.

Some companies bullish on the circular economy’s potential are already reaping financial gains while boosting company employment.

General Motors, for example, boasts savings of more than US$1 billion on its circular economy initiatives, while Philips recently reused 940 tonnes of refurbished medical imaging equipment, reducing production costs while generating jobs in refurbishment.

These changes are critical early steps promoting the complex agenda of creating a circular economy without squeezing out labour.

The ideal of a true circular economy involves increased localisation of manufacturing and consumption practices across multiple communities, industries and governments. Rather than designing out waste, making combating forced labour a core part of the circular economy can design in a professionalised workforce committed to local environmental initiatives.

Policymaking that centres around the circular economy and forced labour would give investors more bang for their buck, simplify corporate compliance practices and facilitate concise policy objectives for governments.

Sophie Zinser is a researcher and an incoming Schwarzman Academy Fellow at Chatham House in London