Towards comprehensive e-waste legislation in the United States: Design considerations based on quantitative and qualitative assessments

Abstract

Comprehensive electronic waste (e.-waste) legislation is necessary to simplify and unify e-waste management in the U.S. and ultimately to improve the collection and recycling of end-of-life electronics. In lieu of federal activity, 25 states have passed legislation promoting e-waste recycling and/or prohibiting e-waste landfilling or incineration. However, each of these state programs differs from the next, and this regulatory ‘patchwork’ is in fact impeding e-waste recycling. A more unified and comprehensive approach to e-waste legislation must utilize the experience of existing programs as well as the wisdom of industry and policy experts. We performed a two-part assessment of the current e-waste recycling industry: (1) a quantitative analysis of existing state programs to discern legislative components that have a statistically positive influence on e-waste collection rates, and (2) a qualitative assessment of stakeholder inputs on the design of effective legislation, using Delphi technique of engaging respondents in multiple rounds of interviews. Results of the two assessments inform our development of a comprehensive legislative framework which can be adopted at any level of U.S. policy to effectively manage e-waste. Our proposed framework includes recommendations for legislative components that promote increased collection rates, uphold socially and environmentally sound treatment standards throughout the vendor chain, shift the cost of e-waste management from public to private organizations, and distribute regulatory authority such that regulation can evolve with the industry.