Is Extended Producer Responsibility living up to expectations? A systematic literature review focusing on electronic waste

Abstract

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental policy principle conceived for the incorporation of total product life-cycle (PLC) costs into production and consumption decisions. Consequently, EPR is expected to enhance the circularity of the value chains affected by this regulation. The lack of comprehensive evaluations of EPR achievements hampers the possibility to assess the actual alignment of the policy impacts with Circular Economy (CE) objectives. This is true also in the context of electronic waste (WEEE), which has been prioritized by EPR regulations and scientific investigations. This paper provides the first systematic literature review aiming to comprehensively examine the outcomes of EPR implementation in the WEEE scope, by adopting a PLC perspective. The review highlights the accomplishment of important downstream goals of EPR on WEEE, such as the increase of waste collection rates and the development of stable waste management systems. On the other hand, the review highlights limited upstream effectiveness of the policy, which is due to the insufficient allocation of individual responsibility to electronics producers to systematically drive them towards eco-design strategies. Discrepancies between CE goals and EPR achievements and implementation are classified into seven areas, covering the entire PLC and also representing domains of policy recommendations. Finally, the paper identifies a number of future research directions that would support the alignment of EPR policies and CE objectives in the electronics value chain.