Publication Details

Category Text Publication
Reference Category Journals
DOI 10.1016/j.eist.2022.08.005
Licence creative commons licence
Title (Primary) Locked in unsustainability: Understanding lock-ins and their interactions using the case of food packaging
Author Simoens, M.C.; Leipold, S.; Fuenfschilling, L.
Source Titel Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions
Year 2022
Department UPOL
Volume 45
Page From 14
Page To 29
Language englisch
Topic T5 Future Landscapes
Keywords Path-dependency; Socio-technical change; Transition; Circular economy; Reuse; Resistance
Abstract Lock-in mechanisms are major hurdles to sustainability transitions. Scholars identified various types of lock-ins; however, their dynamics and interactions remain underexplored. Using the case of food packaging, this study enhances the conceptual understanding and empirical analysis of lock-ins and their interactions from a socio-technical perspective. We analyze the material, institutional, behavioral, and discursive configuration and the shallow and deep lock-ins reinforcing the persistent dominance of single-use over reusable food packaging in Germany. Additionally, we explore the lock-in interactions both within and between the socio-technical elements. Hence, we introduce archetypical interlock-ins and lock-in clusters pointing to core trends of resistance towards reusable packaging alternatives. This study advances the lock-in concept for future socio-technical analyses while guiding the illumination of the complex dynamics of stability, the assessment of current sustainability transition interventions, and the search for potential unlocking strategies to enable change.
Persistent UFZ Identifier https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=26584
Simoens, M.C., Leipold, S., Fuenfschilling, L. (2022):
Locked in unsustainability: Understanding lock-ins and their interactions using the case of food packaging
Environ. Innov. Soc. Trans. 45 , 14 - 29 10.1016/j.eist.2022.08.005