Barriers to Implementation of Electronic End of Life Product Programs in the U.S

As our society makes the transition into the digital age, electronics manufacturers are constantly pushing newer and better electronic equipment onto the market to satisfy customer demands for newer technology. Yet when this new stream of products makes its way into homes, older electronic equipment will, as a consequence, be discarded. Currently, several manufacturers have begun to initiate product take-back programs in some regions of the US. Yet given the estimate of how much electronic waste may enter into the waste stream in the next few years, the present collection infrastructure seems highly inadequate. This paper looks at the current experimental and commercially available product take-back programs and tries to evaluate the trends and patterns that have kept these programs from developing into full-scale nation wide programs. Through a series of interviews with major manufacturers in US electronic waste issues, a general willingness to resolve electronic waste issues at hand can be established. However, many finer details such as wording of federal and local regulations, financial models of product take back programs have not been worked out for several reasons, one of which is the lack of precedence in electronic equipment waste issues. Another major concern is the lack of recycling infrastructure to process the potential electronic wastes in the US.