The Forgotten Entrepreneurs of the Circular Economy: How Informal Entrepreneurs Drive Circularity in Marginalized Contexts

This book challenges dominant narratives of the circular economy by spotlighting informal entrepreneurs in marginalised contexts. Over 2 billion informal workers worldwide-waste pickers, repair artisans, and recyclers-recover 15-35% of urban waste in low- and middle-income countries, yet remain invisible within policy frameworks that privilege formal-sector innovation. This volume examines the "recognition paradox," whereby informal circular practices are simultaneously operationally central to urban metabolism, institutionally invisible within governance structures, and discursively misrecognized in policy narratives. Through seven empirical chapters spanning Ghana, Sub-Saharan Africa, Peru, Turkey, Mexico, Indonesia, and Zambia, the authors demonstrate how necessity-driven circularity constitutes a parallel system with its own logics and efficiencies. Essential reading for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners seeking to govern circular transitions through inclusive, justice-based frameworks that dismantle colonial epistemologies of modernisation.