Perspective of electronic waste management in China based on a legislation comparison between China and the EU

Illegal management of electronic product (e-product) from cradle to grave poses a huge threat to human and the environment, and the significant increases of electronic waste (e-waste) have violated the targets of previous regulations. To tackle these threats, a number of directives and regulations related to e-product and e-waste were promulgated, implemented and updated in China and in the European Union (EU) from 2006 to 2012. Comparing the relevant legislation along the e-product’s entire life cycle between China and the EU, the prospect of e-waste management in China is presented. Some results and prospects have been reached: (1) the life cycle of e-product from forward logistics to reverse logistics is properly covered by the legislation framework both in the EU and in China. Within the reverse logistics of electronic product, EU legislation demonstrated a clearer and more systemic idea of eco-design and integrated product policy. More stakeholders are involved in China than the EU in the course of law enforcement; (2) the legislation differences between China and the EU can be attributed to the different cultural and social circumstances. The long-dated weak environmental awareness, many ministries and government hierarchies in China lead to the different frameworks and content from the EU; and (3) based on the comparison, a four-phase process of e-waste management in China is clearly outlined, including an informal manual dismantling phase (1980s–2000), recycling pilot phase (2001–2008), development phase (2009–2020), and mature phase (2020–).