104
The major receiving E-waste countries of the world collect obsolete electronic
goods mainly that are sent to the recycling industry. Only 2% of them are reused
(Imran et al. 2017). To avoid these problems, Sri Lanka enacted a policy to encourage the import of high-quality products and materials to minimize the E-waste, and
they have internal facilities for the collection of discarded items. China is considered to have a limited legal framework in this regard and has banned the import of
dozens of electronic items since 2000 (Imran et al. 2017).
For instance, China, the leader in E-waste production, began to stand out in minimizing barriers to change E-waste import and conventional recycling activities, also
known as backyard recycling. This country also employs extended producer responsibility that encourages manufacturers to take back, recover and dispose of the waste
(Chung et al. 2011). However, a lot of work is still necessary to overcome all the
challenges indicated. The authors agree that the enforcement of regulatory issues is
the most important action to achieve this goal in developing countries.
5.5 Final Considerations
This chapter discussed the recycling challenges regarding the adoption of E-waste
reverse logistics, related to the main barriers and possible solutions to overcome
these barriers, from the perspective of developing countries. For this purpose, we
gathered information from papers published in international databases and reports
such as the United Nations Environment Programme and Global E-waste Monitor,
thus identifying data available to American countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile and
Mexico), South Africa and Asian countries (China, India, Russia, Indonesia, Turkey,
Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore).
We could categorize the barriers into financial/economics, environmental, market related, legal, policy related, management, knowledge related and technical and
technological related. Our categorization was performed similarly by Bouzon et al.
(2016), who studied the Brazilian context; Prakash and Barua (2015), who performed
a modelling study; and Abdulrahman et al. (2014), who studied the Chinese context.
Nevertheless, our approach was conducted based on the reality of several developing
countries. It is important to point out that in our study, the most prominent barriers
are those related to management and political issues. These barriers or challenges
can serve as input to find actions or alternatives to overcome them. It was also
possible to find some opportunities for solutions that can be implemented.
It is important to emphasize that this research differentiates from those performed by United Nations Environment Programme report (2009), Abdulrahman
et al. (2014), Prakash and Barua (2015), Bouzon et al. (2016), Guarnieri et al. (2016)
and Global E-waste Monitor (2017) due to focuses in developing countries and not
in specific countries or based on a global perspective (including developed and
developing ones).
We also find that the reverse logistics concept, that can be understood as the
management of returns, including the sorting of residues, collection, storage,
P. Guarnieri et al.
The major receiving E-waste countries of the world collect obsolete electronic
goods mainly that are sent to the recycling industry. Only 2% of them are reused
(Imran et al. 2017). To avoid these problems, Sri Lanka enacted a policy to encourage the import of high-quality products and materials to minimize the E-waste, and
they have internal facilities for the collection of discarded items. China is considered to have a limited legal framework in this regard and has banned the import of
dozens of electronic items since 2000 (Imran et al. 2017).
For instance, China, the leader in E-waste production, began to stand out in minimizing barriers to change E-waste import and conventional recycling activities, also
known as backyard recycling. This country also employs extended producer responsibility that encourages manufacturers to take back, recover and dispose of the waste
(Chung et al. 2011). However, a lot of work is still necessary to overcome all the
challenges indicated. The authors agree that the enforcement of regulatory issues is
the most important action to achieve this goal in developing countries.
5.5 Final Considerations
This chapter discussed the recycling challenges regarding the adoption of E-waste
reverse logistics, related to the main barriers and possible solutions to overcome
these barriers, from the perspective of developing countries. For this purpose, we
gathered information from papers published in international databases and reports
such as the United Nations Environment Programme and Global E-waste Monitor,
thus identifying data available to American countries (Brazil, Argentina, Chile and
Mexico), South Africa and Asian countries (China, India, Russia, Indonesia, Turkey,
Pakistan, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore).
We could categorize the barriers into financial/economics, environmental, market related, legal, policy related, management, knowledge related and technical and
technological related. Our categorization was performed similarly by Bouzon et al.
(2016), who studied the Brazilian context; Prakash and Barua (2015), who performed
a modelling study; and Abdulrahman et al. (2014), who studied the Chinese context.
Nevertheless, our approach was conducted based on the reality of several developing
countries. It is important to point out that in our study, the most prominent barriers
are those related to management and political issues. These barriers or challenges
can serve as input to find actions or alternatives to overcome them. It was also
possible to find some opportunities for solutions that can be implemented.
It is important to emphasize that this research differentiates from those performed by United Nations Environment Programme report (2009), Abdulrahman
et al. (2014), Prakash and Barua (2015), Bouzon et al. (2016), Guarnieri et al. (2016)
and Global E-waste Monitor (2017) due to focuses in developing countries and not
in specific countries or based on a global perspective (including developed and
developing ones).
We also find that the reverse logistics concept, that can be understood as the
management of returns, including the sorting of residues, collection, storage,
P. Guarnieri et al.