Managing e-waste from a closed-loop lifecycle perspective: China's challenges and fund policy redesign

Abstract

E-waste is one of the fastest growing streams of solid waste globally, and its effective management has become a focused issue, which requires a deep understanding of the core guiding theory of extended producer responsibility (EPR). Over the past 20 years, China, one of the world's largest producers of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), has made great efforts to improve e-waste management along with the massive generation of e-waste. In 2012, China implemented a unique EPR-based e-waste fund policy. However, the fund policy is unsustainable due to the challenges of non-closed resource use, informal recycling, and fund imbalance. Beginning with an overview of these challenges, this paper focuses on redesigning the fund policy from a closed-loop lifecycle perspective in order to maintain a balanced development of the resource use loop and the fund system in China's ten-year plan. In doing so, two EPR instruments, recycling content standards and consumer-oriented deposits, are added to the current fund policy. Subsequently, three extension scenarios alternately changed a critical parameter of the model to test the impact on sustainable capabilities. In this way, the sustainable supply of funds and secondary resources for the e-waste industry can be established in China and effectively demonstrate solid waste management in developing countries.

Keywords: China; E-waste management; Extended producer responsibility; Fund policy redesign; Sustainability.

Fig.1

A conceptual framework of redesigned fund policy

Fig. 2

Individual and total quantities of EEE and e-waste

Fig. 3

Total fund in–out of EEE under fund policy

Fig. 4

Fund in–out of TV under fund policy

Fig. 5

The sustainable capabilities of TV under redesigned policy

Fig. 6

The sustainable capabilities of TV for different scenarios under redesigned policy