From “less landfilling” to “wasting less” : Societal narratives, socio‐materiality, and organizations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to show that organizational change depends on societal narratives – narratives about the character, history, or envisioned future of societies. Design/methodology/approach – A case study of a Swedish municipal waste management company serves as an illustration. Findings – Swedish waste governance is powered by two main narratives: “less landfilling” and “wasting less”. Less landfilling has been the dominant narrative for several decades, but wasting less is gaining momentum, and a new narrative order is establishing itself. This new narrative order significantly redefines the socio‐material status of waste and imposes major changes on waste management organizations. Research limitations/implications – Based on the case of waste governance in Sweden, the authors conclude that organizations should be aware that societal narrative affects the legitimacy and nature of their operations; therefore, they must integrate a watch for narrative change in their strategic reflections. Originality/value – This paper establishes the relevance of the notion of societal narrative to understand organizational change.