Waste delinking: A pathway to degrowth?

Cross-border waste trade from high- to lower-income countries contributes to unsustainable economic growth through overproduction and overconsumption in the former while shifting environmental, social, and health costs to the latter. Drawing on Samir Amin's theory of delinking, this article presents waste delinking as an imperative to internalize the costs of affluent regions' post-consumption residues within their own territories and capacities. Using recent evidence on plastic, textile, and electronic waste, the article shows how closing export outlets constraints growth and can catalyze systemic transformation. Waste delinking necessiates a reorganization of production–consumption systems and therefore provides a concrete pathway toward degrowth-oriented futures grounded in non-colonial relations, localization, and ecological justice. • Introduces “waste delinking” as a material lever to enable degrowth. • Demonstrates how export dependence structurally sustains growth. • Frames waste delinking as a pathway to decolonial, degrowth-oriented futures grounded in ecological justice. • Links waste delinking to redesigned production culture, waste prevention, and reduced material throughput. • Extends Samir Amin's delinking into a framework of ecological sovereignty.