Study on the Influence of Different Characteristics of Consumers on the Electronic Waste Deposit Return Policy

Abstract

In order to explore the feasibility of the implementation of the deposit refund policy in China, and to address the consumer traits affecting the recycling of electronic waste, namely environmental awareness and economic benefits, the game theory is applied to study the implementation effect of the deposit return policy. The study found: (1) Regardless of whether there is environmental awareness, the deposit return policy cannot promote the recycling of e-waste in the hands of consumers who believe that e-waste is valuable. However, the entire waste of e-waste can be recovered by increasing the profit of the recycler's unit waste. (2) For consumers who are environmentally conscious and believe that e-waste has no value, the deposit return policy cannot promote the recycling of e-waste in their hands, because the e-waste has been completely recycled. (3) For consumers who are not environmentally conscious and believe that e-waste has no value, the deposit return policy can promote the recycling of e-waste in their hands, and achieve full recovery when the deposit reaches the highest space cost. The results show that for Chinese consumers who are not environmentally conscious and believe that e-waste is valuable, the deposit return policy cannot promote waste recycling in the Chinese market, and thus the implementation is ineffective.