Product take-back (also called extended producer responsibility) has become a trend for dealing with the garbage resulting from categories of problematic products. Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is one such category with computer equipment being of particular significance. This article provides a description of the European Union’s program to require the take-back of WEEE as well as the status of similar programs in Canada and the United States. It is concluded that although these programs meet the goal of reducing the quantity of hazardous materials going to landfills, they do not go to the root of the problem by means of preventive approaches that create more circular materials flows. Plastics used in WEEE pose a serious problem, as they are generally not recycled.
Alberta Recycling Management Authority. (2005). Backgrounder. Retrieved June 1, 2005, from www.albertarecycling.ca/public/data/documents/ARMABackgrounderJune2005pdf
2.
Bennett, E. B., & Graedel, T. E. (2000). “Conditioned air”: Evaluating an environmentally preferable service. Environmental Science & Technology, 34(4), 541-545.
3.
Bettac, E., Maas, K., Beullens, P., & Bopp, R. (1999). RELOOP: Reverse logistics chain optimisation in a multi-user trading environment. In IEEE Computer Society & Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers (Ed.), Proceedings of the 1999 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment(pp. 42-47). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.
4.
Davis, G. A., Wilt, C. A., & Barkenbus, J. N. (1997). Extended product responsibility: A tool for a sustainable economy. Environment, 39(7), 10-15, 36-37.
5.
Electronics Product Stewardship Canada. (2003a). EPSC European tour of electronics waste stewardship programs, June 10 to 15, 2003. Ottawa, Canada: Author.
6.
Electronics Product Stewardship Canada. (2003b). July 15, 2003 Europe E-Waste Mission 2003—key lessons learned. Retrieved May 21, 2005, from www.epsc.ca/pdfs/eps_euro_lessons.pdf
7.
Electronics Product Stewardship Canada. (2003c). Welcome to the first e-News update. E-News, 1, 1.
Electronics Product Stewardship Canada. (2005b). Ontario becomes Canada’s second province to enact an E-waste regulation. E-News, 6, 1.
11.
Electronics Product Stewardship Canada. (n.d.-a). Electronics Product Stewardship Canada: About us. Retrieved May 21, 2005, from www.epsc.ca/about.html
12.
Electronics Product Stewardship Canada. (n.d.-b). Electronics Product Stewardship Canada: About us: Mission. Retrieved May 21, 2005, from www.epsc.ca/a_mission.html
13.
Electronics Product Stewardship Canada. (n.d.-c). Electronics Product Stewardship Canada: Questions. Retrieved May 21, 2005, from www.epsc.ca/questions.html
14.
European Union. (2002). Directive 2002/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council. Retrieved May 16, 2005, from www.europa.eu.int/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!DocNumber&lg=en&type_doc=Directive&an_doc=2002&nu_doc=96
15.
Galeano, S. F. (1995). Product stewardship: An improved environmental management system to foster eco-efficiency. In Technical Association of the Pulp & Paper Industry (Ed.), TAPPI Proceedings of the 1995 International Environmental Conference(pp. 981-985). Atlanta GA: TAPPI Press.
16.
Graedel, T. E., & Allenby, B. R. (1995). Industrial ecology. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
17.
Graedel, T. E., & Allenby, B. R. (1996). Design for environment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
18.
Hart, S. L. (1997). Beyond greening: Strategies for a sustainable world. Harvard Business Review, 75(1), 67-76.
19.
Jackson, T. (1996). Material concerns: Pollution, profit and quality of life. London: Routledge.
20.
Nakajima, N. (2004). Exploring the potential of preventive approaches to converge business interests with environmental sustainability. Unpublished doctoral thesis, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
21.
Nakajima, N., & Vanderburg, W. H. (2005). A failing grade for the German end-of-life vehicles take-back system. Bulletin of Science, Technology & Society, 25(2), 170-186.
22.
National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative. (2004a). A memorandum of understanding on electronics stewardship. Retrieved June 5, 2005, from http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/clean/nepsi/pdfs/memoelect.pdf
23.
National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative. (2004b). A positive end to national electronics product stewardship meeting. Retrieved June 5, 2005, from http://eerc.ra.utk.edu/clean/nepsi/word_docs/Final%2520Portland%2520Press%2520Release.doc
24.
National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative. (2004c). NESPI resolution. Retrieved June 5, 2005, from www.productstewardship.us/nepsiresolution.html
25.
National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative. (2004d). NESPI: The National Electronics Product Stewardship Initiative. Retrieved June 5, 2005, from www.productstewardship.us/nepsi.html
26.
National Office of Pollution Prevention, Sustainable Consumption Division, Environment Canada. (2001). Information technology (IT) and telecommunication (Telecom) waste in Canada. Retrieved May 15, 2005, from www.ec.gc.ca/nopp/docs/rpt/itwaste/en/summary.cfm
27.
Schmidheiny, S., & Business Council for Sustainable Development. (1992). Changing course: A global business perspective on development and the environment. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
28.
Sekutowski, J. (1991, June). Design for environment. MRS Bulletin, p. 3.
29.
Sundin, E., Björkman, M., & Jacobsson, N. (2000). Analysis of service selling and design for remanufacturing. In IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Electronics & the Environment Technical Committee (Ed.), Proceedings of the 2000 IEEE International Symposium on Electronics and the Environment (pp. 272-277). Piscataway, NJ: IEEE.
30.
White, A. L., Stoughton, M., & Feng, L. (1999). Servicizing: The quiet transition to extended product responsibility. Washington, DC: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Solid Waste.
