Management Of Electronic Equipment Research Articles

Assessment of the waste electrical and electronic equipment management systems profile and sustainability in developed and developing European Union countries

The assessment of waste management systems for electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) from developed economies (Germany, Sweden and Italy) and developing countries (Romania and Bulgaria), is discussed covering the period 2007–2014. The WEEE management systems profiles are depicted by indicators correlated to WEEE life cycle stages: collection, transportation and treatment. The sustainability of national WEEE management systems in terms of greenhouse gas emissions is presented, together with the greenhouse gas efficiency indicator that underlines the efficiency of WEEE treatment options. In the countries comparisons, the key elements are: robust versus fragile economies, the overall waste management performance and the existence/development of suitable management practices on WEEE.Over the life cycle perspective, developed economies (Germany, Sweden and Italy) manage one order of magnitude higher quantities of WEEE compared to developing countries (Romania and Bulgaria). Although prevention and reduction measures are encouraged, all WEEE quantities were larger in 2013, than in 2007. In 2007–2014, developed economies exceed the annual European collection target of 4 kg WEEE/capita, while collection is still difficult in developing countries. If collection rates are estimated in relationship with products placed on market, than similar values are registered in Sweden and Bulgaria, followed by Germany and Italy and lastly Romania. WEEE transportation shows different patterns among countries, with Italy as the greatest exporter (in 2014), while Sweden treats the WEEE nationally. WEEE reuse is a common practice in Germany, Sweden (from 2009) and Bulgaria (from 2011). By 2014, recycling was the most preferred WEEE treatment option, with the same kind of rates performance, over 80%, irrespective of the country, with efforts in each of the countries in developing special collection points, recycling facilities and support instruments. The national total and the recycling carbon footprints of WEEE are lower in 2013 than in 2007 for each country, the order in reducing the environmental impacts being: Germany, Italy, Sweden, Bulgaria and Romania. The negative values indicate savings in greenhouse gas emissions. In 2013, the GHG efficiency shows no differences of the WEEE management in the developed and developing countries.

Disconnect between policy and practice in developing countries: Evidence of managing e-waste from Nigeria

There are insufficient management functions that begin with planning, institutional arrangements and technical handling of e-waste materials in Nigeria. Modern trends in recycling still fall short of global practices. This study examined Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) management strategies in Southeastern Nigeria with a view to suggesting appropriate implementable measures. It used an investigative approach through questionnaire administration. Twenty local government areas were purposively selected from five mutually exclusive strata of states. Data from 36 government agencies/offices were analyzed using percentage and linear multiple regression. Results revealed that WEEE management strategies were inadequate. The study concluded that WEEE management strategies were inapt and poorly implemented. Regulatory bodies should therefore urgently embrace and adopt appropriate management strategies, conduct periodic inventories of WEEE types and quantity and encourage the set-up and enforcement of cutting edge standards for modern facilities designated for the disposal of e-waste materials.

Waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) management: A study on the Brazilian recycling routes

Processing of waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) is a growing issue and a worldwide challenge due to an enormously large volume of WEEE being generated around the world. WEEE typically contains valuable and precious materials in addition to some hazardous components, which could potentially lead to economic and environmental benefit if recycled properly. In Brazil, the WEEE generation has significantly increased in the past decade and the best process routes to recycle it remain little explored. This study shows a systematic analysis of WEEE processing procedures based on the information found and mapped from 134 recycling companies active in Brazil by contacting them and confirming activity. It was found that in spite of the recent implementation of national waste management policies, federal and local government do not have control over the number of active WEEE recycling companies in the country. It was possible to explain the role of the different agents in the Brazilian recycling scenario. Moreover, this study shows that 89% of the Brazilian recycling companies only undertake the pretreatment phase in the recycling process – sorting and dismantling - and that at least 92% dismantle WEEE manually. Finally, it is shown that WEEE that is more complex to recycle is still being shipped abroad for foreign downstream companies and that the revenue generated by the WEEE recycling market in Brazil can financially support up to five agents involved in the WEEE flow.

Regional approach of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management in France

Waste management regulation is generally impacted by Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) implementation, such as Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). The main goal of this article is to explicit the WEEE chain and flows using the material flow analysis (MFA) method and to contribute to the understanding of the EPR implementation in a specific case study by examining operational activities of WEEE regional and urban flows. A detailed case study of the EPR implementation for WEEE in the Midi-Pyrénées Region and the Toulouse's urban area was conducted. Based on a MFA of the WEEE chain, results give an insight into operational activities dealing with circulation of waste material. It reveals the main dysfunctions of this WEEE management system, including lack of involvement of local authorities and consumers, dispersion channels and a low recycling rate at the local level. The roles of recycling operators, social economy companies and EPR compliance are also important to recover more resources from waste and to close the recycling loop.

Internet of things and Big Data as potential solutions to the problems in waste electrical and electronic equipment management: An exploratory study

Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) is a vital part in solid waste management, there are still some difficult issues require attentionss. This paper investigates the potential of applying Internet of Things (IoT) and Big Data as the solutions to the WEEE management problems. The massive data generated during the production, consumption and disposal of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) fits the characteristics of Big Data. Through using the state-of-the-art communication technologies, the IoT derives the WEEE “Big Data” from the life cycle of EEE, and the Big Data technologies process the WEEE “Big Data” for supporting decision making in WEEE management. The framework of implementing the IoT and the Big Data technologies is proposed, with its multiple layers are illustrated. Case studies with the potential application scenarios of the framework are presented and discussed. As an unprecedented exploration, the combined application of the IoT and the Big Data technologies in WEEE management brings a series of opportunities as well as new challenges. This study provides insights and visions for stakeholders in solving the WEEE management problems under the context of IoT and Big Data.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL ATTRIBUTES OF WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT (WEEE) RECYCLING IN ASIA

Due to ever increasing demand, the electronics industry has been growing at a rapid pace, and therefore handling and management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has become one of the key problems in the modern world. Improper handling and management of WEEE in developing countries can cause a huge environmental damage and threats on human health. In some developed countries, policies have been set up and strategies have been implemented by aiming recuperation of materials from WEEE while conserving resources and controlling environmental pollution. For instance, in Japan, the home appliance recycling law like strategies have been implemented for achieving a recycling-oriented society. In this study, socio-economic and environmental effects from end-of-life home appliances recycling such as washing machines, Refrigerators, Air conditioners and Televisions have been assessed. Recycling mechanism of end-of-life home appliances in Fokuoka Prefecture under Japan’s home appliances recycling law was evaluated via life cycle assessment perspective. Life cycle based methodology was developed for the assessment considering all the phases life cycle of WEEE recycling such as collection, primary and secondary transportation, pre-processing (dismantling), recycling and material recovery. Net greenhouse gas (GHG) emission and net resource savings potentials were quantified as the key indicators to measure the major environmental impacts while green jobs creation potential and income based community well-being was quantified to assess the socioeconomic attributes of end-of-life home appliances recycling. Further, recycling mechanism in India was assessed and the results obtained from the case studies was compared for identifying the most appropriate approach of recycling and then for supporting policy making process. In the case of Japan, the results demonstrated that it would be possible to avoid more than 50% of GHG emissions and 55-80% of abiotic resource consumption as for all kind WEEE recycling that would some way or another happen through the production of the equivalent amount of materials from conventional processes. Further, 165 employment opportunities have been created and an annual income of 686 million Japanese yen can be generated due to handling and managing of 700,000 units of WEEE. In the case of India WEEE management activities are shown lower GHG emissions potential from recycling process and therefore, it would positively contribute for more GHG savings and fossil resource savings by recuperating significant amount of materials from WEEE. The authors argue that this kind of tangible information will be helpful for decision and policy-making process and for strengthening and implementing a set of comprehensive policies and legislation for achieving a recycling-oriented society in Japan as well as other countries. Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/Mijst.2016.23.183199 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Administration of medical electronics: A review of some criteria basic to effective and economical management of medical electronic equipment.

Administration of medical electronics: A review of some criteria basic to effective and economical management of medical electronic equipment.

Potential for circular economy in household WEEE management

Circular economy (CE) is considered an alternative for today’s linear business model, and a lifeline to sustainable production and consumption. However, the lack of understanding of the true potentials for CE in many business sectors remains a challenge. In this study, we investigate the potential for reuse and recycling – the two key pathways promoted by CE – for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management. We empirically characterize household WEEE stream in order to explore a) the remaining functionality and reuse potential of end-of-life (EoL) products based on the current market conditions, and b) the recycling potential of EoL products based on their material compositions and existing WEEE treatment chain. For this, a total of 4704 kg WEEE within the collection fractions of ‘small appliances’ and ‘monitors’ was collected in 16 collection cages from eight civic amenity sites in Odense, Denmark. After determining the categorical distribution, all products were inspected individually and their functionality was tested. Further, selected products were dismantled in order to determine their material composition. Building on this investigation, the potential revenues from resale as well as from material recovery were estimated. With 22% and 7% of fully functional products in the fractions ‘small appliances’ and ‘monitors’ respectively, our results suggest resale value up to €247 per cage of the collected household WEEE. The existing WEEE management system, which focuses only on material recovery, does not exploit other EoL options. A better system designed to reclaim the remaining functionality and tailored material recovery from the EoL products thus has a large potential for increased revenue.

DFSS在车载电子设备管理机构开发中的应用

本文运用设计六西格玛IDDOV流程开发了车载电子设备管理机构，实现产品的正向开发和稳健性设计。首先，建立车载电子设备管理机构开发项目，定义项目目标及研究范围。其次，通过客户声音、质量屋工具识别客户需求。再次，基于客户需求，头脑风暴产品概念并用Pugh工具对概念进行选择。最后对所选择的概念进行优化和验证，优化后产品的系统稳健性提高了64%。实践证明DFSS是一整套强大的设计质量控制方法论和宝贵的思维方式。 The application of DFSS in Electronic Equipment Management’s design is investigated in this paper, which achieved the vehicle’s original and robust design. Firstly, Electronic Equipment Management develop project was established and the project target & scope were defined. Secondly, customer and consumer’s requirement were recognized by using VOC and QFD tools. Thirdly, based on customer’s requirement, product concept was developed by brain storm and selected by Pugh. Lastly, the system robustness was improved 64% after the selected concept optimized and verified. DFSS have been proved that it is a powerful quality design methodology and valuable way of thinking.

APLICACIÓN DE LA METODOLOGÍA DE ANÁLISIS DE CICLO DE VIDA PARA EVALUAR EL DESEMPEÑO AMBIENTAL DE SISTEMAS DE GESTIÓN DE RESIDUOS EN IBEROAMERICA

La metodologia de Analisis de Ciclo de Vida es la tecnica mas adecuada para evaluar el desempeno medioambiental de los sistemas de gestion de residuos solidos. Durante los ultimos anos, se ha ido extendiendo su implementacion en diferentes paises iberoamericanos. Asi pues, este articulo presenta cinco experiencias de aplicacion de la metodologia de Analisis de Ciclo de Vida para evaluar el comportamiento ambiental de: un sistema de recogida selectiva de residuos domiciliarios en Espana; un sistema de gestion de residuos de aparatos electricos y electronicos y especificamente terminales de telefonia movil en Mexico; un sistema de gestion de residuos de construccion y demolicion en Argentina; la incorporacion de recogida selectiva en un sistema de gestion de residuos domiciliarios en Brasil; y finalmente, un sistema de gestion de residuos domiciliarios en Colombia. Para cada uno de los casos de aplicacion se ha conformado un inventario, identificandose como principal handicap, la falta de datos de inventario en bases de datos comerciales adaptados a diferentes paises, a diferentes fracciones y a diferentes tratamientos de gestion de residuos. Para ello, para modelar los inventarios se ha realizado una combinacion de datos primarios y secundarios. Finalmente, se ha obtenido la contribucion al impacto de las diferentes etapas que conforman el ciclo de vida de cada sistema de gestion de residuos, sirviendo los resultados obtenidos como punto de partida para la seleccion e implantacion de medidas que favorezcan la mejora ambiental de los sistemas de gestion de residuos.

A Strategic View for Rare Earths Production, in a Competitive and Sustainable form

The demand for rare earths (RE) has been intensified by their large use, especially in high technology sectors. Supply difficulties have forced RE users to seek alternative sources and invest in the development of recycling technologies and options of reuse for these elements. This article seeks to reveal the trends and ongoing changes in national and global prospects of RE. Additionally, it aims to analyze scientific collaboration networks in the area of industrial solid waste (ISW) and waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) exploitation in Brazil, examining both researchers and institutions with greater representation in the field. For this purpose, social network analysis methods were used to build and analyze co-authorship networks based on scientific publications retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) database. The results showed that the Brazilian collaboration network of ISW research was extremely fragmented and contained 105 different groups, which were not connected to each other. The institutional network of ISW research was composed of 125 institutions, 75.2% of them from Brazil. The Brazilian collaboration network of research in WEEE was small (37 researchers), but fragmented: researchers were divided into eight different groups that do not connect to each other. The institutional network of research in WEEE was composed by 12 institutions, nine of them from Brazil. Therefore, this article presents a network collaboration model to bring together actors involved in the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), emphasizing the potential for recovery of RE from these wastes, with the purpose of developing products and services.

Energy and eMergy assessment of the production and operation of a personal computer

Production of electronic devices (e.g., the day-by-day increasing number of computers and cell phones) requires energy as well as large and diverse amounts of materials, among which rare and strategic minerals. The extraction of such non-renewable resources is already a source of concern due to their limited availability and environmental impact. Identifying energy and materials costs over the entire production chain is, therefore, a priority in order to be able to suggest improvements that lead to optimizing resource use. On the other hand, the large and increasing numbers of these devices worldwide create additional concern about their end-of-life disposal, in order to prevent pollution of air, water and soil due to their degradation and leakage, if not properly managed. The end-of-life management of Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) has been the subject of heated debate over the past years. Their environmental impacts are so huge that they must be considered hazardous waste and must be regulated by a dedicated and specific legislation at international, European and national levels. Impacts may be decreased if WEEE are looked at a mine of valuable materials that, if properly exploited, can be re-introduced into the production chains with considerable economic and environmental advantages (and less extraction from mines).In this study, an energy assessment is performed to examine the energy costs of desktop and laptop computers from raw materials acquisition to manufacturing and use. Two options are explored, namely the use of primary materials and conventional fossil energy sources as well as an alternative scenario that uses recycled materials and renewable resources, in both production and use phases. Since, however, the environmental quality of renewable and non-renewable resources (their availability, renewability, regulatory role within ecosystems’ dynamics) depends on the work performed by nature for their generation at the scale of biosphere, an eMergy assessment (i.e. an evaluation of the environmental support at the largest scale of biosphere) was also performed in order to explore the sustainability of reuse, recycling and recovering patterns.Calculated performance and sustainability indicators refer to the production and use of a desktop computer compared to a laptop computer, with focus on both production and use phases. In order to make comparison easier, not only reference is made to one computer as final product, but also to its computing performance (FLOPS, floating-point operations per second), a concept applicable to all computer models.

The influence of residents' behaviour on waste electrical and electronic equipment collection effectiveness.

Government agencies have implemented regulations to reduce the volume of waste electrical and electronic equipment to protect the environment and encourage recycling. The effectiveness of systems through which waste electrical and electronic equipment is collected and recycled depends on (a) the development and operation of new programmes to process this material and (b) on information dissemination programmes aimed at manufacturers, retail sellers, and the consuming public. This study analyses these two elements. The main focus is to better understand household residents' behaviour in regards to the proper methods of handling waste electrical and electronic equipment and possible storage of the obsolete equipment that brings disturbances with collection of the waste equipment. The study explores these issues depending on size of municipality and the household residents' knowledge about legal methods of post-consumer management of waste electrical and electronic equipment in Poland, where the collection rate of that type of waste is about 40% of the total mass of waste electrical and electronic equipment appearing in the market.The research was informed by various sources of information, including non-government organisations, Inspectorate of Environmental Protection and Central Statistics Office in Poland, questionnaires, and interviews with the household residents. The questionnaires were distributed to daytime and vocational students from different universities and the customers of an electronic equipment superstore. The results show that a resident's behaviour in regards to the handling of obsolete waste electrical and electronic equipment can significantly reduce the collection rate, especially when the waste is discarded improperly - mixed with municipal waste or sold in scrapyards. It is possible to identify points that are necessary to be improved to achieve a higher collection rate.

Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment in Brazilian Public Education Institutions: Implementation Through Action Research on a University Campus

One of the problems facing public education institutions in Brazil is the question of the correct handling and treatment of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). Being that these institutions are part of the public sector, they should adhere to Decree no. 99,658/1990 for the disposal of their goods. However, this decree is not completely in accordance with the Brazilian National Solid Waste Policy (PNRS), especially when considering the regulations for disposal of public goods. Thus, these institutions have no WEEE management model which encompasses not only the Decree but also the PNRS. An example of this situation can be found at the Federal University of Itajuba (UNIFEI) in Minas Gerais, Brazil. Due to the lack of such a management model, the university warehouse is at full capacity and unable to receive additional electronic equipment. Therefore, the objective of this study is to create a management model for WEEE to be used at public education institutions using the guidelines set forth in both the Decree and the PNRS. An action research investigation was performed at UNIFEI which relied upon two improvement and learning cycles to deal with all the WEEE found at the university. The first was undertaken at the university warehouse and the second at other sectors within the institution. In addition to the practical results obtained by properly disposing of 474 WEEE products, this study showed that action research is an adequate management tool for public institutions looking to deal with problems of this nature, being that these institutions are almost always subject to bureaucratic controls with respect to their public property, and expected to follow rigorous legislation that is often times controversial.

Waste electrical and electronic equipment management and Basel Convention compliance in Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations.

Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) nations account for one-quarter of the world's land area, having more than 40% of the world's population, and only one-quarter of the world gross national income. Hence the study and review of waste electrical and electronic equipment management systems in BRICS nations is of relevance. It has been observed from the literature that there are studies available comparing two or three country's waste electrical and electronic equipment status, while the study encompassing the BRICS nations considering in a single framework is scant. The purpose of this study is to analyse the existing waste electrical and electronic equipment management systems and status of compliance to Basel convention in the BRICS nations, noting possible lessons from matured systems, such as those in the European Union EU) and USA. The study introduced a novel framework for a waste electrical and electronic equipment management system that may be adopted in BRICS nations and revealed that BRICS countries have many similar types of challenges. The study also identified some significant gaps with respect to the management systems and trans-boundary movement of waste electrical and electronic equipment, which may attract researchers for further research.

Challenges in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Management: A Profitability Assessment in Three European Countries

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is known as an important source of secondary raw materials. Since decades, its treatment allowed to recover great amounts of basic resources. However, the management of electronic components embedded in WEEE still presents many challenges. The purpose of the paper is to cope with some of these challenges through the definition of an economic model able to identify the presence of profitability within the recovery process of waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs). To this aim, a set of common economic indexes is used within the paper. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis on a set of critical variables is conducted to evaluate their impact on the results. Finally, the combination of predicted WEEE volumes (collected during the 2015–2030 period) in three European countries (Germany, Italy and the United Kingdom) and related economic indexes quantify the potential advantage coming from the recovery of this kind of waste in the next future.

The evolution of the Italian EPR system for the management of household Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Technical and economic performance in the spotlight

In this paper we analyse the Italian collective system for the management of household Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), and its evolution over time, following the European Directives on WEEE, which include the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). The analysis focuses on the technical and economic performance of WEEE compliance organisations (consortia), as they are the key players in the Italian EPR regime. Economic results have not usually been provided in previous studies, due to the lack of available data. This study overcomes this problem by accessing the financial statements for the years 2009–2014 of all consortia. The main conclusions of the study are: The Italian EPR system barely exceeded the technical target of the first WEEE Directive (4kg per capita). Improvements are necessary to achieve the target set for 2019 by the Recast Directive. The economic performance of the Italian EPR regime improved significantly over time. The fees charged per tonne of WEEE collected decreased by almost 43% from 652 Euro per tonne in 2009 to 374 Euro per tonne in 2014, while the fees per tonne put on the market (POM) were 134 Euro in 2009 and 104 Euro in 2014. The results prove the theory which states that, competing consortia use the learning effects to reduce the contribution fees for producers rather than to increase the quantity collected. Municipalities remain the most important actor in WEEE collection operations. Consortia compensate municipalities with a reimbursement that ranges between 28 and 38 Euros per tonne collected. These repayments cover only partially their costs. Additional studies should investigate their role.

GREEN ECONOMY AND THE REVERSE LOGISTICS OF WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

From the way globally accepted for economic growth representation of evolution of a country related to the findings of non consideration of environmental assets and liabilities as a measure of occupancy in the economy of the countries, this study suggests a paradigm shift in the operation of the world economy with the implementation of the Green Economy concept seeking the achievement of environmental goals necessary to a level considered optimal in terms of pollution at lower cost to society. The focus of the study is given to the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), particularly in the reverse logistics of WEEE as a potential tool for economic growth maintenance condition with sustainability. A diagnosis on the use of reverse logistics of WEEE in the world is also presented based on research conducted in countries on five continents. At the end of the study it was concluded that the application of reverse logistics in the world is still incipient with no evidence of the use of economic instruments that give opportunity for growth and sustainability. Accordingly, it is emphasized that the management of WEEE practiced in most countries has shown motivation solely on financial profit based on the export / import of waste in a kind of ruse coated green taking into account the environmental and health risks of the population in developing countries or in development, which are the main final destination of WEEE.

A Hybrid Law Model for the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: A Case of the New Draft Law in Thailand

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been high on the environmental policy agenda of many countries for its rapid increase and concerns over its toxicity and the critical metals it hold. There are 59 countries that have passed laws for the management of WEEE, not including tahe state level legislation in the USA and Canada. Most of these laws are based on the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) but their details on responsibility allocation and system operation vary considerably. This study reviews the implementation models of EPR which are classified into two broad groups: producer compliance schemes and government funds. The advantages and disadvantages of each model are analyzed and a synthesis in a form of a step-wise hybrid model is proposed for Thailand considering the local conditions. A new draft law, the Act on the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Other End-of-Life Products, differs from the previous drafts that solely based on the governmental-fund model. Under the proposed system, the producers of designated products would have an opportunity to develop their compliance plans individually or collectively. This allows them to channel their experiences of working with EPR in other countries to the implementation of Thai WEEE. The compliance plans have to outline how they are going to support the free take-back obligations stipulated in the draft law. Collection targets can be added to improve the system performance in the later years. Unlike a typical producer-led system, the government retains the power to levy product fees into the National Environmental Fund. This ensures the leverage in the case that the producer plans fail to function in a developing country context. The revenues will then be earmarked to support investments and campaigns to achieve the objectives of this law in the long run.

A Hybrid Law Model for the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment: A Case of the New Draft Law in Thailand

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) has been high on the environmental policy agenda of many countries due to its rapidly increasing volume and concerns over its toxicity and the critical metals it holds. To date, 59 countries have passed laws for WEEE management (ex-cluding State level legislation in the USA and Canada). Most of these laws are based on the principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) but their treatment of allocation of respon-sibility and system operation differ considerably. This study reviews the implementation models of EPR which are classified into two broad groups: producer compliance schemes and governmental funds. The advantages and disadvan-tages of each model are analyzed and a synthesis proposed for Thailand in the form of a step-wise hybrid model, considering local conditions. A new draft law, the Act on the Management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and Other End-of-Life Products, differs from earlier drafts solely based on the governmental-fund model. Under the proposed system, producers of designated products would have an opportunity to develop their compliance plans individually or collectively. This would allow them to channel their experiences of working with EPR in other countries to the implementation of Thai WEEE management schemes. The compliance plans have to outline how they intend to support the free take-back obligations stipulated in the draft law. Collection targets can be added to improve system performance in the later years. Unlike a typical producer-led system, the government retains the power to levy product fees into the National Environmental Fund. This ensures the leverage in the case that the producer’s plans fail to function in a developing country context. Revenues would then be earmarked to support investments and campaigns to achieve the objectives of this law.