Understanding Consumer E-Waste Recycling Behavior: Introducing a New Economic Incentive to Increase the Collection Rates

Consumer electronics are made of a wide range of materials, including precious metals and critical minerals with limited global reserves. Ensuring the recycling of these materials is essential for future use, especially since many renewable energy solutions are based on them. In addition, improper e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inSustainability Vol. 11; no. 9; p. 2656
Main Authors Shevchenko, Tetiana, Laitala, Kirsi, Danko, Yuriy
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.05.2019
Subjects
Behavior
Cellular telephones
Consumers
Consumption
Economic incentives
Economics
Electronic waste
Environmental degradation
Incentives
Informal economy
Norms
Raw materials
Recycling
Recycling programs
Sustainable development
Waste disposal
Waste management
Beijing China
United Kingdom > UK
United States > US
Norway
China
Nigeria
India
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Summary:Consumer electronics are made of a wide range of materials, including precious metals and critical minerals with limited global reserves. Ensuring the recycling of these materials is essential for future use, especially since many renewable energy solutions are based on them. In addition, improper end-of-life treatments of these products cause harm to the environment and human health. This study explores the incentives that have been used to increase consumer collection rates for end-of-life electrical and electronic equipment (EoL EEE). Based on extensive global literature reviews, we propose an alternative to existing consumer incentives. The research suggests that implementing an economic incentive based on the electronic bonus card system (EBCS) has several benefits compared to existing incentives. It compensates the consumers for the transaction costs of proper collection and satisfies the consumer perception of EoL EEE as having a residual value. However, application of the EBCS motivation technology will require the cooperation of various stakeholders, including electronics producers and national and international authorities.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su11092656