ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that environmental regulations and the locational dynamics of recycling activities are normally omitted in global value chain analyses. Importantly, environmental policy principles relating to waste have changed noticeably since the 1970s. The chapter examines the e-waste problem as it has emerged in China, explains the situation of the e-waste recycling activities in mainland China, the influences on the electronic industry and the reactions of the Chinese government to developments. Widespread criticism on the Internet contrasts with the attitude of government authorities in charge of the import e-waste management in China. The State Environmental Protection Agency promulgated a declaration in September, which denied that pollution in Guiyu resulted from the import e-waste scrapping, declaring that it mainly came from domestic consumption. The local market demand for secondary materials has become the main economic motive for e-waste recycling in the eastern coastal regions.
