All publications: recycling + circular economy
E-Waste for Youth Employment in Limpopo
The E-Waste for Youth Employment in Limpopo Province Project, implemented by the ILO with funding from the Government of Japan, promoted decent employment and entrepreneurship for young people, particularly women, through sustainable e-waste...
Report
Circular economy, trade and employment
This report provides the first global estimate of employment embedded in circular economy trade, analysing how exports of recyclable, reusable and remanufactured goods generate both direct and indirect jobs across global value chains. It highlights...
Renewable Energy and Jobs: Annual Review 2025
The 2025 Annual Review highlights the increasing impact of geopolitical and geoeconomic frictions, as well as growing automation, to the renewable energy workforce.
Report
Employment in the circular economy: Leveraging circularity to create decent work
E-Waste for Youth Employment project Japan study tour
Working Paper 155
From Organic Waste to Agrifood Value: Appropriate Technologies for Circular Economy and Job Creation
Discover how innovative organic waste solutions can drive green job creation and strengthen agrifood systems in Africa. This working paper highlights practical technologies and policy actions that turn waste into economic and environmental value.
ILO Technical brief
Decent work opportunities and challenges in recycling
This ILO brief, authored by Anna Barford and Annabel Beales, explores the opportunities and challenges in recycling, focusing on decent work. Recycling, a practice dating back millennia, has evolved significantly with industrialization and modern...
Book
Industrial symbiosis and productivity: The employment effects in developing countries
This book examines the social dimension of the circular economy, with a particular focus on industrial symbiosis (IS), a business model where the waste or by-products of one firm serve as inputs for another, mimicking natural ecosystems. While the...
Country Study
The employment effects of industrial symbiosis networks in the South African informal sector
This report deals with the employment effects of industrial symbiosis in the provinces of Gauteng and the Western Cape in South Africa. It focuses on the textile and construction value chains and formalization.
Circular economy in the food and beverage industry for a green recovery - PAGE Indonesia: In-depth assessment of green jobs and skill needs
The present report introduces an in-depth assessment of green jobs and skill needs for circular economy in the palm cooking oil industry. Its relevance is high as circular economy has been established as one of the priorities in Indonesia’s green...
Study
Reducing Waste Towards a Just Transition: Work, Labour, and Value in the Informal Recycling Chain
Country Study
Employment effects of industrial symbiosis in the Tanzanian sugar sector
This study investigates the impact of transitioning to a circular economy through industrial symbiosis on employment in the Tanzanian sugar industry. Data were gathered via company surveys and semi-structured interviews involving key stakeholders,...
Circular Economy
A circular economy that works for everyone: Ensuring a just and jobs-rich transition to a sustainable future for all
On 1st June the ILO, Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) at the World Bank and Circle Economy held a joint event, A circular economy that works for everyone: Ensuring a just and jobs-rich transition to a sustainable future for all, at the World...
Green Business Guide
Businesses must incorporate principles of sustainability into their decisions to reduce their negative impacts on the environment. This comprehensive report provides practical guidance on how businesses can achieve this, and ensure profitability and...
Decent Work in the Circular Economy: An Overview of the Existing Evidence Base
Decent Work in the Circular Economy: An Overview of the Existing Evidence Base is a joint report by the International Labour Organization, Circle Economy, and the Solutions for Youth Employment (S4YE) Programme of the World Bank.
Mapping practices, initiatives and policies around the circular economy and emerging services in the retail sector
Decent Work in Garment Supply Chains Asia
Women entrepreneurs leading the way: Promoting a circular economy and more sustainable practices in the garment sector
The report outlines four women leaders in Asia’s garment and textile sector who are making positive contributions to sector-specific challenges related to gender equality, environmental sustainability and industry recovery from COVID-19. The...
ILO brief
Industrial symbiosis networks as part of a circular economy: Employment effects in some industrializing countries
Industrial symbiosis networks as an expression of the circular economy can constitute a valuable contribution to developing economies’ efforts to build a solid industrial sector in a sustainable manner.
Flagship report
World Employment and Social Outlook 2018: Greening with jobs
This edition examines environmental sustainability in the world of work. It focuses on how climate change and environmental degradation will impact the labour markets, affecting both the volume and quality of employment, and quantifies the shifts...
Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all
These Guidelines are both a policy framework and a practical tool to help countries at all levels of development manage the transition to low-carbon economies and can also help them achieve their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC)...