From Collecting Dirty Waste to Collecting Clean Data? Exploring the Intersection of Waste Work, Digitalization and Shifting Professionalisms

Waste collection is increasingly undergoing processes of digitalization and automation in countries such as Germany, transforming waste work into a less "dirty" and more technologically sophisticated profession. Social implications such as job loss due to digital divide, uncertainty around data security and new, more intense ways of employee surveillance are being critically discussed. In the context of waste collection, digitalization not only intersects with special working conditions – physically hard and dirty work – but also work contexts that are associated with highly specific knowledge, a distinct sense of self-confidence and a high degree of team-based self-organization, often beyond the control of the organization. So far it has not been researched how implementing bundles of digital technologies impacts these practices and professionalisms.

Based on an ethnographic study we examine how the new digital technologies at the heart of these transformations redefine and change waste work practices in a German municipal enterprise. We focus on the intersection of waste, digitalization, and professionalism, asking: What kind of work is “waste work” becoming? How do bundles of technologies influence social relationships, self-confidence and work organization in waste work? We argue, that by examining waste workers not merely as manual laborers but as experts, as collectors of (clean) data, knowledgeable observers of urban environments, and managers of technology, we can uncover their roles in shaping the digitalization of their sector. Our analysis highlights how the interactions of workers with technology assemblages allows for the active re-creation of digital processes, reshaping not only their work environment but also their professional identities and sense of relevance. This contribution aims to shine a light at new routines and knowledge that accompany digital technologies and automated processes, furthering the discussion on dirty work by highlighting the impact – and challenges – of digitalization.