Disposal of waste electrical and electronic products should be equal to policy and market

At present, there are many problems in the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products in China. Except for several irrational and non-standard treatment and disposal methods that cause serious environmental pollution, the rest of the processing enterprises are mostly small and medium-sized and have a lot of existence. The workshop-style small-scale processing enterprise management is not standardized, the processing technology is backward, and the pollution risks are large. Our country should adopt the method of governmental guidance and market mechanism. It is necessary to guarantee the development of the industrial scale and standardization, and also to introduce a certain market mechanism.

Non-standard treatment causes environmental pollution

According to the latest report of the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the annual output of major waste electrical and electronic products in China ranks behind the United States, ranking second in the world, reaching 2.3 million tons. According to estimates, the annual output of several major waste electrical and electronic products in China is: 25 million television sets, 10 million washing machines, 5.4 million refrigerators, 1 million air conditioners, and 12 million computers. With the continuous development of China's economy and the continuous improvement of people’s living standards, the popularity and retention of major electrical and electronic products have maintained rapid growth, coupled with the rapid update of various electronic and information products, it can be foreseen that China’s waste electrical appliances The production of electronic products will continue to grow. Recycling, disposal and utilization of such products will be a long-term challenge.

At present, there are many problems in the disposal of waste electrical and electronic products in China. Except for several irrational and non-standard treatment and disposal methods that cause serious environmental pollution, the rest of the processing enterprises are mostly small and medium-sized and have a lot of existence. The workshop-style small-scale processing enterprise management is not standardized, the processing technology is backward, and the pollution risks are large. In recent years, fluctuations in the prices of raw materials markets have had a great impact on such a naive "vein industry." When the price rises, a batch of small enterprises or small workshops that are not regulated produce; if the prices fall, a large number of small businesses or small workshops disappear. The waste electrical and electronic product processing industry is difficult to realize the healthy development of large-scale and standardized development with the current development situation. The cost of environmental management is extremely high. While partially utilizing resources, it is more of environmental pollution and harm to human health. , And the waste of resources is not fully utilized. Therefore, it is an important duty of the relevant management departments to strengthen environmental supervision over the electronic disposal of waste electrical appliances and to guide the healthy development of the industry through market mechanisms.

Since June 2009, China has implemented a “new-for-new” policy on home appliances in some provinces and cities, recycling a large amount of used home appliances, and the amount of recycling of various used home appliances (televisions, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, and computers) has exceeded With 15 million units, the company has provided sufficient sources of supply for dismantling companies designated by the pilot provinces and cities, which has greatly promoted the investment of related companies in processing capacity and processing equipment. At the same time, we should also understand that as the “vein industry”, the raw materials used in its production are used household appliances, and the production of used household appliances is after all limited. The blind expansion of processing capacity will cause serious waste of resources. The implementation of the “renewal of old” policy has provided us with useful experience in studying the industrial development path of waste electrical and electronic products suitable for China’s national conditions.

There are three foreign processing modes

Through investigation and research, the development model of foreign waste electrical and electronic products industry can be summarized into three types:

The first model, led by the government, is an industry development model that focuses on local integrated large-scale processing companies. It mainly deals with the company's shareholders being local manufacturers or traditional waste hardware companies, forming a relatively closed industry. Countries or regions that fall into this model include Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. This model is characterized by government-led, large-scale early investment, reflecting the government's macro-management intent; processing facilities are basically local manufacturers or waste metal industry owners for the treatment of the company, to facilitate the front-end optimization of production design and end-processing; Flows to processing companies, enterprises have a comprehensive, large-scale characteristics; processing facilities geographically distributed relatively balanced, serving their own regions, with geographical closure characteristics, but the competition between each other is not sufficient, the overall industrial processing capacity is excess, and technology upgrades are also lack of motivation.

In the second mode, the government encourages all parties to participate in and exchange information, fully play the role of the open-market leading industrial development model, and various types of processing companies complement each other and compete freely. Countries that use this model include the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Finland, Italy, and Spain. The second model is characterized by small government involvement, market-driven organization of information exchanges, and encouragement of all parties involved in free competition, but it is difficult to monitor; there are many types and quantities of companies, and large-scale specialized enterprises and small-scale processing Enterprises coexist and complement each other, which is conducive to the full use of resources, high awareness of corporate compliance, and difficult environmental supervision.

The third model, through government guidance, market-based, through a special producer, responsible agency (PRO) or municipal responsible organization to implement the industrial development model, the main processing companies are all contractors of the agency. Countries that apply this model include the Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. The characteristic of this model is that the government directly supervises the PRO agency and conducts appropriate guidance. The PRO agency is divided into two major professional recycling systems: home appliances and information technology products. It cooperates with related parties in recycling, transportation, and processing and reflects moderation. The market characteristics of competition; the proportion of municipal collection points accounted for a large proportion, the contracted transport companies and processing companies have specialization and high degree of scale, PRO has a wide range of services, play a key role; two major professional management agencies The requirements for organization and management capabilities are relatively high and there is a certain amount of management costs; a professional transportation department is required, and the cost of cross-regional transportation is relatively high.

Government-led and Market Mechanism

Comparing and analyzing the above-mentioned three types of waste electrical and electronic product processing industry development models, we can easily see the pros and cons of its development approach. The first model led by the government can be quickly constructed and deployed through administrative means. The utilization of resources is high, and it is easy to supervise and manage. However, the lack of market mechanisms leads to high processing costs. With the market-led second model, due to the effective implementation of the competition mechanism, with the development of the processing industry, the processing costs have gradually decreased, but the supervision is difficult, and the potential risk of dealing with the damage to the environment of the company is high. The third model falls in between the two, with a balance between government-led and market-led development. Obviously, the complete reference to any of the first two models is not consistent with China’s national conditions and the current economic development goals and levels. Drawing on the concept of the third model, developing a waste electrical and electronic product processing industry with Chinese characteristics is a rational choice.

In order to regulate the recycling and disposal activities of China's waste electrical and electronic products, promote the harmless use of resources, protect the environment, and protect human health, the State Council promulgated the Regulations on the Management of the Recycling of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products in February 2009 (hereinafter referred to as the “Regulations”). ”) will be implemented on January 1, 2011. The implementation of the “Regulations” will provide basic legal guarantees for the sound development of China’s waste electrical and electronic product processing industries. It deals with related policies such as catalogs, processing funds, processing qualifications, and solves the current situation in China from the perspectives of management and guidance. problem. Hereby, it is suggested that China should adopt a government-led and market-based approach. It is necessary to ensure that the industry scales and normalizes the development of the industry. It must also pay attention to the introduction of certain market mechanisms to avoid monopolistic phenomena and promote the healthy, coordinated, and sustainable development of the industry. development of.