Comparison of Informal and Regulated WEEE Collection Methods in China

This paper explores Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE) collection in China based on an open-ended interview among 14 housholds, in an attempt to demonstrate the role of various informal and formal stakeholders can be managed during the innitial stage of recycling, WEEE collection. In relation to the complex e-waste recycling system based on informal collectors, a comparaison between formal and informal collection methods has been done in order to get a better understanding of e-waste collection and dismantling infrastructure. In the discussion section, informal collection and regulated trade-in with retailers is compared as the two representations of informal and formal collection means. Suggestions are proposed on how to improve WEEE collection methods through recognising and incorporating the roles of the formal and informal WEEE collection sector.