IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE EXTENDED PRODUCTION RESPONSIBILITY IMPLEMENTATION IN VIETNAM: A STUDY ON ELECTRONIC WASTE MANAGEMENT

The electronic waste is now raised in Vietnam as emerging issue, not only by its impact on the environment and public health, but also the chance to utilize the natural resources. In order to sustainable management of major urban-mine sources, including e-waste, an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system is proposed under the Decision 16/QĐ-TTg dated 22, May, 2015, to extend the responsibility of producers to the end-of-life product. In this study, the Material Flow Analysis and Policy assessment tool are applied to assess the impact of the EPR system, in case of large home appliances and to find the obstacles on the implementation of the system. Among the experimental appliances, air conditioner has the highest rate of valuable materials and also the highest rate of recyclable materials, then follows the refrigerator, washing machine and desktop computer. On the opposite, Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor has the highest rate of hazardous compounds, where washing machine has no hazardous matter. Three scenarios were developed and assessed based on the obtained benefit–cost from dismantled material and hazardous waste. It is shown that the role of intermediate stakeholders, the infrastructure for e-waste treatment and monetary distribution flows under the pressure of legislation are the main factors that caused failure in the application of the EPR system in Vietnam

Extended Producer Responsibility in East Asia: Approaches and lessons learnt from the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment

Environmental protection has become high in the policy agenda of East Asian countries by the end of the last century due to both internal and external stimuli. One of the main environmental issues is the management of solid waste. The concept of circular economy which encourages reduce, reuse, and recycling, i.e. 3Rs, together with the principle of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) has been promoted principally in the region by the Japanese government and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), respectively. This paper reviews approaches to pursue EPR and analyses factors behind policy development and environmental effectiveness of the respective programmes in China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan from the 1990s onward. The management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE, or e(lectronic)-waste) is selected as an object of the study. A two-step theory-based evaluation (TBE) is employed to evaluate the effectiveness of WEEE programmes. This paper concludes that internal factors such as limits in waste disposal capacity are more powerful in explaining the speed of policy development and the exact design of WEEE programmes though the role of epistemic communities helps in understanding the policy discourse. The adoption of the restriction of the use of hazardous substances (RoHS) in East Asia, on the other hand, was driven mainly by international trade harmonisation. TBE shows that the impacts of existing WEEE programmes on design improvements varied and the main explanation was the degree of producers’ involvement in the end-of-life management, which was highest in Japan and lowest in Taiwan. It also shows that programmes in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, succeeded to an extent in promoting WEEE recycling although the actual achievements in the area of waste collection were not completely in line with the EPR intervention and implementation theories. In addition, this paper questions the role of exports of used products to less developed countries because this form of “reuse” can compromise environmental protection goals where the imported countries do not have a proper system to ensure environmentally sound management of WEEE when these products reach their ultimate end-of-life stage

Environmental (waste) compliance control systems for UK SMEs

While the ‘environment’ is often perceived as a heavily regulated area of business, in reality, directly-regulated businesses represent a small proportion of the business community. This study aimed to evaluate and outline potential improvements to compliance controls for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), particularly those involved in the waste sector. Forty-four SMEs from England were interviewed/audited between April-September 2008. Using a UK-based system as a case-in-point, the Environment Agency’s (EA) Operational Risk Appraisal (‘Opra’)/Compliance Assessment Report (CAR) system was analysed. Environmental compliance performance indicators and an initial assessment methodology for SMEs were developed. The study showed:• Compliance with permitting legislation was poor in many areas.• Regulatory authorities are either unable/failing to implement their enforcement policies or unable/failing to identify non-compliances due to the infrequency or limited nature of their inspections.• Improvements are needed to the EA Opra/CAR system – control measures are not fully taken into account when calculating risk.Recommendations to improve SME compliance controls include using internationally applicable general and specific compliance and non-compliance performance indicators, re-designing the Opra system and using an initial assessment methodology based on understanding the hazardousness of SME categories, compliance levels and operator competency.<br/

Phase Stability and Segregation in Alloy 22 Base Metal and Weldments

The current design of the waste disposal containers relies heavily on encasement in a multi-layered container, featuring a corrosion barrier of Alloy 22, a Ni-Cr-Mo-W based alloy with excellent corrosion resistance over a wide range of conditions. The fundamental concern from the perspective of the Yucca Mountain Project, however, is the inherent uncertainty in the (very) long-term stability of the base metal and welds. Should the properties of the selected materials change over the long service life of the waste packages, it is conceivable that the desired performance characteristics (such as corrosion reistance) will become compromised, leading to premature failure of the system. To address this, we will study the phase stability and solute segregation characteristics of Alloy 22 base metal and welds. A better understanding of the underlying microstructural evolution tendencies, and their connections with corrosion behavior will (in turn) produce a higher confidence in the extrapolated behavior of the container materials over time periods that are not feasibly tested in a laboratory. Additionally, the knowledge gained here may potentially lead to cost savings through development of safe and realistic design constraints and model assumptions throughout the entire disposal system

The Eco-Fee Imbroglio: Lessons from Ontario’s Troubled Experiment in Charging for Waste Management

Charging for the life cycle cost of waste management is contentious. The recent example of some retailers charging “eco-fees” in Ontario, with respect to sales of household products such as detergent, batteries and fluorescent light bulbs, is a case in point. However, the Ontario program for municipal waste, which the provincial government has partially abandoned, is just one example of the movement known as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which is spreading across the country and to many products. As in numerous other jurisdictions, Canadian provinces have imposed, or are considering, similar EPR programs for products such as tires, electronics and countless other goods. This Commentary uses lessons from Ontario’s waste programs to examine EPR’s potential attractions – when such programs are properly designed.Economic Growth and Innovation, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), Ontario, Canada, eco-fees, waste management life cycle cost

The stewardship of things: Property and responsibility in the management of manufactured goods

In the context of broad-based concerns about the need to move towards a more sustainable materials economy, particularly as they are expressed in debates around ecological modernisation (EM), we argue that product stewardship has radical potential as a means to promote significant change in the relationship between society and the material world. We focus on two important dimensions that have been neglected in approaches to product stewardship to date. Firstly, we argue that immanent within the basic concept of stewardship is a problematisation of dominant understandings of property ownership in neoliberal market economies. In the space opened up by notions of stewardship, different ways of enacting both rights and responsibilities to products and materials emerge which have potential to advance the sustainability of material economies. Secondly, through exploration of existing expressions of product stewardship, we uncover a neglected scale of action. Both policy and dominant articulations of EM focus primarily on the efficiency of production processes; and secondarily, the attitudes and behaviours of individual consumers. Missing from this is the 'meso-scale' of social collectives including households, neighbourhoods, more distributed communities and small scale social enterprises. Based on a review of existing research from Australia and the UK, including our own, we argue that understanding of embedded practices of material responsibility at the household scale can both reinvigorate the concept of product stewardship as a potentially radical intervention, and reveal the potential of the meso-scale as a challenging but worthwhile realm of policy intervention

Disposition Choices Based on Energy Footprints instead of Recovery Quota

This paper addresses the impact of disposition choices on the energy use of closed-loop supply chains. In a life cycle perspective, energy used in the forward chain which is locked up in the product is recaptured in recovery. High quality recovery replaces virgin production and thereby saves energy. This so called substitution effect is often ignored. Governments worldwide implement Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Policies are based on recovery quota and not effective from an energy point of view. This in turn leads to unnecessary emissions of amongst others CO2. This research evaluates current EPR policies and presents six policy alternatives from an energy standpoint. The Pareto-frontier model used is generic and can be applied to other closed loops supply chains under EPR, exploiting the substitution effect. The measures modeled are applied to five WEEE cases. We discuss results, pros an cons of various alternatives and complementary measures that might be taken.extended producer responsibility;disposition;energy perspective;substitution effect;government policies;Pareto efficiency

Pathways towards the nuclear revival in Finland, France, and the UK

Nuclear power is undergoing a revival in a number of countries of both developed and developing world, and is increasingly presented as a solution to the problems of climate change and energy security. This paper analyses the history of and the debates on nuclear power in France, the UK and Finland, all of which are in the process of either planning or building new nuclear plants. The paper traces the history of nuclear power since the early post-War years, distinguishing five distinct phases of development, from the early period of nuclear enthusiasm, through the emergence of doubt and risk in the 70s and 80s, to the recent 'nuclear renaissance'. Emphasis in the analysis is placed on issue framings, argumentative strategies, the role of independent expertise, public opinion and the degree of openness of decision-making. Key similarities, converging trends and differences between the countries are identified and tentative conclusions drawn on the potential stability of the current framing of nuclear energy as a response to the double challenge of climate change and energy security

Deposit-Refund Systems in Practice and Theory

A deposit-refund system combines a tax on product consumption with a rebate when the product or its packaging is returned for recycling. Deposit-refunds are used for beverage containers, lead-acid batteries, motor oil, tires, various hazardous materials, electronics, and more. In addition, researchers have shown that the approach can be used to address many other environmental problems beyond waste disposal. By imposing an up-front fee on consumption and subsidizing “green” inputs and mitigation activities, a deposit-refund may be able to efficiently control pollution in much the same way as a Pigovian tax. Theoretical models have shown that alternative waste disposal policies, such as virgin materials taxes, advance disposal fees, recycled content standards, and recycling subsidies are inferior to a deposit-refund. These results have been corroborated in calibrated models of U.S. waste and recycling. And in theoretical models that consider joint environmental problems and product design considerations, the deposit-refund continues to have much to recommend it as a component of an overall socially optimal set of policies. More empirical research into deposit-refund systems is needed, particularly the upstream systems used for many products. In these systems, the processors or collectors of recyclables—rather than consumers—receive the refund. Upstream systems may have lower transaction costs and better environmental outcomes than traditional downstream systems.deposit-refund, waste disposal, recycling, source reduction, illegal dumping, Pigovian tax, advance disposal fee, upstream pollution, design for environment