Abstract
New and pending regulations requiring product take-back by manufacturers at the time of disposal are intended to create a new era of industrial ecology and environmental sustainability. However, the intended benefits of the current legislation can be confounded by obsolescence in product design based upon advances in science and technology and also by the introduction of more environmentally benign product designs. Recent changes in legislation are identified and, based upon an extensive industry survey, their resultant likely impacts on consumer electronics are considered. This industry study illustrates that unless the impacted products simultaneously possess both stable designs and input requirements then significant secondary environmental issues related to the waste storage will be encountered. Inherently, these issues cause serious societal problems when hazardous substances are involved – which is the case with many products from the electronics industry. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
