ABSTRACT

There has been a proliferation of systems for managing the recycling of e-waste across the world in the past decade. Although these systems have generic similarities, none of them are identical. Furthermore, nearly all of the systems are relatively new, which makes them essentially experiments in effective e-waste management. Comparing the performance of these existing e-waste recycling systems would be a beneficial way for managers of existing systems, and architects of new systems, to discern traits of effective systems and, thereby, to improve practices. However, creating a useful comparison of these systems is difficult because of their different characteristics (product scope, funding mechanism, stakeholder responsibilities) and their different operational contexts (population densities, labor rates, socioeconomic classes). A framework to conduct performance comparisons of different recycling systems is presented in this chapter, and cases from North America and Europe are used to demonstrate the methodology.