WEEE LEGISLATION AND IMPLEMENTATION IN EUROPE AND THE P.R. CHINA-A COMPARISON

摘要

WEEE in the EU has become a major topic due to rapidly increasing quantities, and the partly hazardous nature. Another significant driver behind the topic was the content of valuable materials in WEEE, which constitutes an important economic factor for recyclers. Similarly occurrences in the PRC - a quickly growing amount of WEEE with its hazardous contents and on the other hand the potential value of its recyclable materials - were seen as decisive motives behind the increasing legislative efforts in recent years. In the EU, legislative measures not only try to realise the initial aim of resource conservation and environmental protection, but also attempt to prepare WEEE for reuse, improve collection targets and enforce take back obligations. In China, major foci behind legislative efforts since the 2000s were material reuse, resource efficiency and Circular Economic promulgation. Increases in imports and domestic generation posed a major motive behind the legislative development. The present problem with China's WEEE legislation is that it has many loopholes allowing the informal sector to meddle in formal WEEE management efforts. The major reasons for these legislative weaknesses stem from overarching hierarchies at the central and local levels of administration as well as insufficient personal allocations to monitor compliance.