Governance frictions at work? Explaining socio-technical transformation in waste-to-energy
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 23311999 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Danieli Braun Vargas (0000-0001-9349-1395, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Stefania Sardo (0000-0002-2420-2737, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology), Dirk Scheer (0000-0002-7472-8331, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 139 |
| Pages | 104893 |
| Publication date | 2026-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Energy Research & Social Science (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2214-6296 • E-ISSN: 2214-6326 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.erss.2026.104893 |
| OpenAlex | W7171524936 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 48 |
Sectors such as waste management can be understood as highly interconnected socio-technical, political, and economic systems characterized by ongoing tensions between stability and change. But what triggers socio-technical sector change and transformation? We state, there are governance frictions at work. This paper contributes to research on socio-technical transformation by examining how different governance regimes interact and generate governance frictions over time. Based on the cross-governance regime friction approach, we conceptualise transformation as a consequence of friction between competing and interacting governance regimes. Governance regimes stand for a specific set of configurations of institutional setting, regulatory framework, and actor orientation and decision-making. Taking the case of waste-to-energy, we identified three existing governance regimes. The reference governance regime of waste management is accompanied by two competing regimes, that are the circular economy and the climate and pollution governance regimes. The governance friction analysis reveals the following: waste management governance requires the continued provision of reliable disposal capacity and operational continuity, circular economy governance seeks to reduce waste flows and progressively limit the role of incineration, while climate and pollution governance increasingly subjects waste-to-energy to decarbonisation imperatives, carbon pricing and technological mitigation requirements. As a result, transformative pressures accumulate within infrastructures, investment cycles, operational routines, and business models. In our view, this conceptual and empirical research is a new approach to tackle the important field of analysing and explaining socio-technical transformation, and deliver fruitful insights on governance strategies and practices to cope with large-scale problems and grand challenges.
Climate governance · Corporate governance · Empirical research · Environmental governance · Good governance · Project governance · Transformative learning · Healthcare and Environmental Waste Management · Municipal Solid Waste Management · Recycling and Waste Management Techniques
Towards a Conceptual Framework for The Study of Shifts in Modes of Environmental Governance – Experiences From The Netherlands
Self-Organization and the Role of Government
The structuration of socio-technical regimes—Conceptual foundations from institutional theory
Institutional Complexity and Organizational Responses
The global governance complexity cube
Institutional Layering
Narrating expectations for the circular economy
Top-down policies and bottom-up realities
Energy justifications – Legitimizing Norwegian wind power development in critical moments
Conceptualizing the relationship between industrial transformation and accelerating sustainability transitions
Discursive destabilisation of socio-technical regimes
The Rise of International Regime Complexity
Commentary
Introduction
Complexity and challenges of long-term environmental governance
The industrial decarbonization paradigm
Circular Economy
The expediency of policy integration
Coping with Complexity, Uncertainty and Ambiguity in Risk Governance
What about the politics? Sustainable development, transition management, and long term energy transitions
Containing the Atom
Strategy for collectives and common goods
When is the future? Temporal ordering in anticipatory policy advice
Policy design
From tools to toolkits in policy design studies
The Politics of International Regime Complexity
Games Real Actors Could Play
Policy Making for the Long Term in Advanced Democracies
Diversifying deep transitions
Sampling Knowledge
Understanding 'anticipatory governance
Increasing Returns, Path Dependence, and the Study of Politics
Instrument constituencies and the supply side of policy innovation
Understanding process, power, and meaning in adaptive governance
The Knowns and Unknowns of Policy Instrument Analysis
Regime Resistance against Low-Carbon Transitions
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |