Extended Producer Responsibility in Cleaner Production: Policy Principle to Promote Environmental Improvements of Product Systems

The focus of the environmental policy-making has shifted noticeably during the last decade. From having played a fairly insignificant role in the 1980s and earlier, product-related environmental problems have attracted an ever-increasing interest from policy-makers, especially in industrialised countries in North-Western Europe. Considerable attention has been devoted to the concept of extended producer responsibility (EPR) and today this concept is spread to most OECD countries and also outside this group of countries. This dissertation shows how the concept was developed, presents a model for various types of responsibilities and defines the EPR concept as a policy principle for environmental improvements of products and product systems. Experiences from existing EPR systems are studied and complemented with an analysis of proposed system implementations. The results are combined with a model for how an EPR system can be developed in order to give the incentives for change to the relevant actors. Conclusions concerning how the details of EPR systems should be organised are presented, as well as a discussion about the advantages and disadvantages with involving various actors in the policy development process and the role of these actors in the implementation of the system

EPR in a non-OECD Context: An introduction to research projects on the management of WEEE

There has been an upsurge of interest in the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) among policy makers and scholars in non-OECD countries. The principle has been applied and its impacts studied rather extensively in various OECD countries. However, similar experiences are largely lacking in non-OECD countries. This paper presents some ongoing research and preliminary findings on the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). The research aims to explore both potentials and limitations of EPR under non-OECD conditions. Hitherto, there have been four projects in three countries: India, Thailand, and Argentina. The first project in India in 2007 investigated the specificity of this non-OECD context and the explanatory boundary of the principle. The second phase of the research studies a WEEE policy development in the three countries. At the time of writing, they appear to follow different courses of action. The India Government issued a guideline suggesting an incorporation of WEEE under the existing Hazardous Waste Rules. The Thai Government shows particular interest in economic instruments, such as product fees and deposit-refund system, and has been working on a draft law that would govern the use of these instruments for the management of some WEEE and other used products. In Argentina, a senator proposed a dedicated WEEE framework law based on EPR. Our analysis identifies collection of post-consumer WEEE as a major practical bottleneck particularly when there is a strong presence of the so-called informal sector. EPR can be a driving force for improvements by mobilising resources from producers and channelling them to end-of-life management. In addition, in a long run, it can lead to design changes in products and product systems. However, market anomalies in a non-OECD context such as sizeable black/grey markets for several product groups and/or illegal import of used products can put identifiable legal producers at a disadvantageous position and retard feedback mechanisms in an EPR programme. Thus, the applicability of policy alternatives should be assessed against the conditions of particular contexts. We also discuss the importance of problem definition in policy processes

The Student Loan Bankruptcy Gap

Each year, a quarter of a million student loan debtors file for bankruptcy. Of those, fewer than three hundred discharge their educational debt. That is a success rate of just 0.1 percent. This chasm between success and failure is the titular “Student Loan Bankruptcy Gap,” and it is a phenomenon that is unprecedented in the law. Drawing upon an original dataset of nearly five hundred adversary proceedings, this Article examines three key facets of the Student Loan Bankruptcy Gap. First, it establishes the true breadth of the gap. Second, it explores why the gap has persisted for more than two decades and, in doing so, uncovers a creditor case-selection strategy designed to deter debtors from bringing legitimate claims. And third, it identifies solutions that have the potential to close the Student Loan Bankruptcy Gap and bring debt relief to millions of individuals

Enhancing reuse and resource recovery of electrical and electronic equipment with reverse logistics to meet carbon reduction targets

Technological advances, with increasing numbers of products containing complex electronic circuitry, have resulted in e-waste becoming the fastest-growing global waste stream. High levels of embodied carbon in these products ensure that, to meet emissions reduction targets proposed by the United Nations Paris Agreement, tackling e-waste requires strategies to address climate change United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (UNSDG13). This paper identifies the contribution improved reverse logistics can make to extending product lifetimes through facilitating reuse. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with academics, industry-leaders and policymakers in the United Kingdom and Europe. This research identified that improvements in availability and efficiency of reverse logistics processes would increase reuse potential and efficient resource recovery. Availability and efficiency challenges can be addressed through careful promotion, incentivisation, and engagement of existing compliance schemes. If these challenges are approached from a life cycle perspective, it will be possible to protect against value loss in global supply chains (UNSDG12) and address the climate action agenda

Assessing barriers to reuse of electrical and electronic equipment, a UK perspective

This paper reports on research undertaken to identify generic and specific barriers to reuse of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with experts from across the value chain including product designers, manufacturers, users and waste managers as well policy makers and academics. The interviews sought to examine perceived and real barriers to reuse in the UK. Three inter-connected factors that limit opportunities and instances of reuse of electrical and electronic equipment were identified, highlighting that both systemic and consumer barriers to increasing levels of reuse exist. These are: producer reluctance, unsuitable collection infrastructure and cultural issues. Overall, the paper shows that low levels of reuse in the electrical and electronic sector are a result of complex and interlinked barriers. Understanding these connections offers the potential to improve the opportunities for reuse, by providing direction for policy makers to address barriers from a multi stakeholder perspective. Increasing instances of reuse is essential if the UK is to successfully move towards a resource efficient, circular economy

Kan digitala informationsbärare ersätta analoga? – en studie av musikkonsumtion

Uppsatsens syfte: Att analysera varför den fysiska informationsbäraren CD inte slagits ut av det nedladdningsbara alternativet MP3 och om det finns en möjlighet för en sådan händelseutveckling i ett framtidsperspektiv på fem år. Metod: För att finna relevanta svar på syftet har vi studerat och talat med såväl utbuds- som förbrukarsidan av musik. Här har vi använt oss av kvalitativ metod i form av fokusgruppdiskussioner beträffande konsumenterna och djupintervjuer med utbudssidan. Resultat: Efter att ha studerat digitala musikfiler och fysiska informationsbärare i form av CD-skivor med hjälp av försäljningsstatistik, teori om kundvärde och symbolisk konsumtion samt intervjuer med såväl utbuds- som förbrukarsidan, har vi kommit fram till att digitala musikfiler inte ska ses som ett hot mot den traditionella musikindustrin. Åtminstone inte på kort sikt. De digitala filerna klarar inte av att uppfylla alla de syften som en konsument har avseende musikkonsumtion och kan därför förmodligen i deras nuvarande avskalade form inte ersätta CD-formatet