Strategic Analysis of Computer Waste Management Options: Game-Theoretic Approach
Publication: Journal of Environmental Engineering
Volume 139, Issue 2
Abstract
Computer waste has emerged as a critical issue globally because of the growing quantity of waste and problems arising out of its toxic nature. In India, it is estimated that 480,000 t of electronic waste (e-waste) is generated annually. Computer waste includes plastics and metals that have a good potential for recycling; however, if not managed properly, the additives and chemicals in plastic waste and traces of heavy metals raise concern for human health and the environment. Efficient e-waste management will require a strategy that offers a win-win situation for all the involved stakeholders. This paper uses a game-theoretic approach for analyzing the strategies by identifying the equilibrium points for various scenarios that can help in deciding the incentives and penalties for deriving the self-propelling market-based mechanism for efficient management of e-waste. Results suggest that applying take-back schemes with some incentives to the consumers and penalty to those who do not follow the prescribed procedure for discarding e-waste could be very useful to discourage the land disposal of computer waste. Nash-equilibrium implies that the recycler would prefer to collect the computer waste directly from the consumer only if the incentive return to the consumer is less than 15% of the price of the computer, the recycling fee is less than 5% of the price of the computer, and the price of the recycled material is more than 15% of the price of the computer; otherwise collect it through the producer. Also, for the producer, it would be preferable to take an extra fee from the consumer for end-of-life management of the desktop computer as an advance recovery fee (apparent fee) only up to 4.0% of the cost of the computer. If the producer had to take an extra fee more than 4.0%, it should be taken as an extended producer responsibility fee (hidden fee combined in the cost) so that computer sales are not affected.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Akenji, L., Hotta, Y., Bengtsson, M., and Hayashi, S. (2011). “EPR policies for electronics in developing Asia: An adapted phase-in approach.” Waste Manage. Res., 29(9), 919–930.
Babu, B. R., Parande, A. K., and Basha, C. A. (2007). “Electrical and electronic waste: A global environmental problem.” Waste Manage. Res., 25(4), 307–318.
Borocz, P., and Fldesi, P. (2008). “The application of the game theory onto the analysis of decision theory of logistic packagings.” Acta. Tech. J. Ser. Logistica, 1(2), 259–268.
Brams S. J. (1992). “Theory of moves.” Am. Sci., 81(6), 562–570.
Callan S. J., and Thomas J. M. (2000). “Managing municipal solid waste.” Environmental economics and management theory, policy, and applications. 2nd Ed., Dryden Press, Oak Brook, IL, 583–585.
Casey, H. G. G., Seager, T. P., Theis, T. L., and Powers, S. E. (2007). “A game theory framework for cooperative management of refillable and disposable bottle lifecycles.” J. Cleaner Prod., 15(17), 1618–1627.
Chung, S. W., Murakami-Suzuki, R., and Kojima, M. (2009). “Application of EPR to recycling policies in Japan, Korea and Taiwan.” Extended producer responsibility policy in East Asia—in consideration of international resource circulation, Y. Hotta, S. Hayashi, M. Bengtsson, and H. Mori, eds., IGES, Hayama, Japan.
Davis, S., and Smith, T. (2003). “Corporate strategies for electronics recycling: A tale of two systems.” Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition and the Computer Take Back Campaign, San Jose, CA.
Dixit, A., and Skeath, S. (1999). Games of strategy, W. W. Norton, New York.
European Environmental Agency (EEA). (2003). Waste from electrical and electronic equipment-quantities, dangerous substances and treatment methods, European Topic Centre on Waste, Copehagen, Denmark.
Forslind, K. H. (2005). “Implementing extended producer responsibility: The case of Sweden’s car scrapping scheme.” J. Cleaner Prod., 13(6), 619–629.
GAMBIT [Computer software]. 〈http://www.gambit-project.org/doc/index.html〉.
Gao, J., and Jin, C. (2011). “Pricing strategies with recycled products in reverse supply chain.” 18th Int. Conf. on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IE&EM), Vol. 3, IEEE, New York, 1478–1482.
Gibbons, R. (2001). “Trust in social structures: Hobes and Coase meet repeated games.” Chapter 11, Trust in society, K. Cook, Russell Sage Foundation, New York, 332–353.
Greenpeace. (2008). Take back blues: An assessment of E-waste take back in India, 〈http://ewasteguide.info/files/take-back-blues_2008_Greenpeace.pdf〉.
Hai-bo, L., Bang-yi, L., and Yuan-yuan, L. (2009). “To study on price decision and benefit allocation of reverse supply chain based on game.” J. Value Eng., 4(9), 1–4.
Joseph, K. (2007). “Electronic waste management in India–Issues and strategies.” Proc., 11th Int. Symp. on Waste Management and Landfill, Environmental Sanitary Engineering Centre, Sardinia, Italy.
Kahhat, R., Kim, J., Xu, M., Allenby, B., Williams, E., and Zhang, P. (2008). “Exploring e-waste management systems in the United States.” Resour. Conserv. Recy., 52(7), 955–964.
Kojima, M., Yoshida, A., and Sasaki, S. (2009). “Difficulties in applying extended producer responsibility policies in developing countries: Case studies in e-waste recycling in China and Thailand.” J. Mater. Cycles Waste, 11(3), 263–269.
Liu, J., Liu, N., and Li, Y. (2011). “The construction of the green supply system based on game theory.” Int. Conf. on Social Science and Humanity, Vol. 5, V1, IPEDR, Singapore, 341–346.
Liu, X., Tanaka, M., and Matsui, Y. (2006). “Electrical and electronic waste management in China: progress and the barriers to overcome.” Waste Manage. Res., 24(1), 92–101.
Manomavibool, P., Lindhqvist, T., and Tojo, N. (2007). Extended producer responsibility in a non-OECD context, Lund Univ., Lund, Sweden.
MAIT-GTZ. (2007). “E-waste inventorisation in India.” 〈http://www.e-wasteproject.org/docs/del_amitjain.pdf〉.
Mingang, Z., and Yanting, Z. (2009). “Multi-game model of reverse logistics in the manufacturing industry.” Int. Conf. on Management and Service Science, MASS ’09, IEEE, New York, NY, 1–4.
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF). (2010). “E-waste (management and handling) rules, 2010.” New Delhi, India, 〈http://moef.nic.in〉 (Feb. 3, 2012).
Neumann V., and Morgenstern O. (1944). Theory of games and economic behavior, Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ.
Osborne M. J., and Rubinstein, A. (1994). “A course in game theory.” The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.
Osibanjo, O., Nnorom, I. C., and Ogbonna, K. C. (2008). “Modelling waste generation by the telecom sector in Nigeria: The grey side of the impressive outing.” Waste Manage. Res., 26(4), 317–326.
Parishwad, R. (2011). “Manufacturers targeted by India’s e-waste laws.” RSC Advances the Chemical Sciences, 〈http://www.rsc.org/chemistryworld/News/2011/July/13071101.asp〉 (Feb. 3, 2012).
Qiao-lun, G. U., Gao, T., and Shi, L. (2005). “Price decision analysis for reverse supply Chain based on game theory.” Systems Eng., 3(3), 21–25.
Sinha-Khetriwal, D., Kraeuchi, P., and Schwaninger, M. (2005). “A comparison of electronic waste recycling in Switzerland and in India.” Environ. Impact Ass. Rev., 25(5), 492–504.
Sinha-Khetriwal, D., Kraeuchi, P., and Widmer, R. (2009). “Producer responsibility for e-waste management: Key issues for consideration-learning from Swiss experience.” J. Environ. Manage., 90(1), 153–165.
Smith, D., Small, M., Dodds, R., Amagai, S., and Strong, T. (1996). “Computer monitor recycling: A case study.” Eng. Sci. Educ. J., 5(4), 159–164.
Tong, X., Lifset, R., and Lindhqvist, T. (2004). “Extended producer responsibility in China: Where is ‘best practice’?” J. Industrial Ecol., 8(4), 6–9.
Toxics Link. (2004). “E-waste in Chennai: Time is running out.” Toxics Link, New Delhi, India.
Wang, W., Ye, D., and Sun, M. (2010). “A development of manufacturer-supplier game model for hazardous substances risk control in electronics industry.” IEEE 17th Int. Conf. on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IE&EM), IEEE, New York, NY, 615–619.
Widmer, R., Oswald-Krapf, H., Sinha-Khetriwal, D., Schnellmann M., and Bo¨ni, H. (2005). “Global perspectives on e-waste.” Environ. Impact Asses. Rev., 25(5), 436–458.
Xin-jun, L. I., and Qingli, D. A. (2008). “Benefit analysis of closed-loop supply chain under remanufacturing condition.” Chin. J. Mech. Eng., 44(5), 170–174.
Yu, J., Williams, E., Ju, M., and Shao, C. (2010). “Managing e-waste in China: Policies, pilot projects and alternative approaches.” Resour. Conserv. Recy., 2(6), 1–9.
Zhang, X., and Jin, C. (2011). “The pricing model construction of reverse supply chain based on game theory.” Int. Conf. on Electronic and Mechanical Engineering and Information Technology (EMEIT), Harbin, Heilongjiang, China, 4, 1880–1883.
Zhong, H., Schiller, S., and Ma, Z. (2011). “Explanatory proposal for E-waste recycling deposit system under EPR.” Proc., 3rd Int. Conf. on Transportation Engineering, ASCE, Reston, VA, 3171–3176.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 9, 2011
Accepted: Jun 27, 2012
Published online: Aug 3, 2012
Published in print: Feb 1, 2013
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.