ENABLING CLOSED RESOURCE LOOPS IN ELECTRONICS: UNDERSTANDING CONSUMER DISPOSAL BEHAVIOUR USING INSIGHTS FROM DIFFUSION MODELS

The paper explores consumer disposal behaviour, especially in the context of durable electronic products. The purpose of the research is to understand why, how and when consumers dispose of their durable products. The research aims to provide policy makers, waste managers and product marketers new insights on consumer disposal behaviour that will help improve policy, encourage better resource management and incentivise product designs that maximise environmental and social benefits. We apply knowledge from the extensive literature on diffusion modelling to develop and test our hypothesis regarding triggers and influencers of obsolescence and disposal of durable products. Our results show that failure is often not the reason that products are disposed, and consumers take disposal decisions based on perceived obsolescence of the product which in turn is driven by psychographic variables, the technology landscape as well as product market characteristics

“Control-Alt-Delete”: Rebooting Solutions for the E-Waste Problem

A number of efforts have been launched to solve the global electronic waste (e-waste) problem. The efficiency of e-waste recycling is subject to variable national legislation, technical capacity, consumer participation, and even detoxification. E-waste management activities result in procedural irregularities and risk disparities across national boundaries. We review these variables to reveal opportunities for research and policy to reduce the risks from accumulating e-waste and ineffective recycling. Full regulation and consumer participation should be controlled and reinforced to improve local e-waste system. Aiming at standardizing best practice, we alter and identify modular recycling process and infrastructure in eco-industrial parks that will be expectantly effective in countries and regions to handle the similar e-waste stream. Toxicity can be deleted through material substitution and detoxification during the life cycle of electronics. Based on the idea of "Control-Alt-Delete", four patterns of the way forward for global e-waste recycling are proposed to meet a variety of local situations