The concept of urban metabolism has been used extensively by a variety of disciplines over the past and present century to describe different urban phenomena, particularly in their spatial dimension through different approaches (Bahers et al. 2022; Gandy 2022; Newell, Cousins, et Baka 2017). In the perspective of the growing importance of metabolic policies such as the circular economy, waste management policies focus primarily on recycling, and to a lesser extent on reuse. In this context, recycling and reuse issues have become a priority for fundamental and industrial research in France, notably with the setting up of metaprograms such as “PEPR Recycling”. This contribution aims to question the place of recycling and reuse in metabolic studies, by deciphering how various scientific communities, such as the UPE, political-industrial ecology, STS, territorial ecology etc., are taking up these issues. It will showcase an epistemological study that transcribes the multiple meanings of the notion of metabolism, to better situate the place of recycling and reuse in this field. Our results show the divergent apprehensions of these forms of waste treatment by these communities (ecological economy's critique of circularity; inequalities between cities and hinterlands; role of informal recyclers; financialization of globalized supply chains, etc.), and the way in which they enable us to think about metabolism in its spatial and political dimensions. These approaches involve issues of quantitative, spatial and political mapping of collection, reuse and recycling flows, enabling us to take a critical look at the production of data, not only by the scientific communities identified, but also by public authorities in the context of the definition of circular economy public policies.

The concept of urban metabolism has been used extensively by a variety of disciplines over the past and present century to describe different urban phenomena, particularly in their spatial dimension through different approaches (Bahers et al. 2022; Gandy 2022; Newell, Cousins, et Baka 2017). In the perspective of the growing importance of metabolic policies such as the circular economy, waste management policies focus primarily on recycling, and to a lesser extent on reuse. In this context, recycling and reuse issues have become a priority for fundamental and industrial research in France, notably with the setting up of metaprograms such as “PEPR Recycling”. This contribution aims to question the place of recycling and reuse in metabolic studies, by deciphering how various scientific communities, such as the UPE, political-industrial ecology, STS, territorial ecology etc., are taking up these issues. It will showcase an epistemological study that transcribes the multiple meanings of the notion of metabolism, to better situate the place of recycling and reuse in this field. Our results show the divergent apprehensions of these forms of waste treatment by these communities (ecological economy's critique of circularity; inequalities between cities and hinterlands; role of informal recyclers; financialization of globalized supply chains, etc.), and the way in which they enable us to think about metabolism in its spatial and political dimensions. These approaches involve issues of quantitative, spatial and political mapping of collection, reuse and recycling flows, enabling us to take a critical look at the production of data, not only by the scientific communities identified, but also by public authorities in the context of the definition of circular economy public policies.