Andersen Terje, Halse Lise Lillebrygfjeld
Molde University College - Specialized University in Logistics, P.O. Box 2110, NO-6402 Molde, Norway.
Circ Econ Sustain. 2023 Feb 22:1-22. doi: 10.1007/s43615-023-00258-1.
Electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing waste stream. In Europe, e-waste is regulated by the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive. Each manufacturer or importer is responsible for the end-of-life (EoL) treatment of the equipment it handles, although this task is usually outsourced to producer responsibility organizations (PROs) that collect and treat the e-waste. The WEEE regime has been criticized for focusing on waste handling according to the traditional linear economy, while, in a circular economy, the goal is to eliminate waste. Information sharing helps improve circularity, and digital technology is seen as enabling information transparency and visibility in the supply chain. However, there is need for empirical studies demonstrating the use of information in supply chains to improve circularity. We conducted a case study of a manufacturer, including its subsidiaries and PROs in eight European countries, in which we investigated the product lifecycle information flow related to e-waste. Our findings indicate that product lifecycle information is available, but that it is provided for purposes other than e-waste handling. Actors are willing to share this information, but it is not regarded as useful for EoL treatment since the actors involved in EoL handling believe that using this information could lead to delays and poorer performance in e-waste handling. Our findings contradict the optimistic view of digital technology as improving circularity in circular supply chain management. The findings further give reason to question the implementation of digital technology to improve the product lifecycle information flow as long as the involved actors do not request this information.
电子垃圾（电子废弃物）是一种不断增长的废物流。在欧洲，电子垃圾受《废弃电子电气设备指令》（WEEE指令）监管。每个制造商或进口商负责其处理的设备的报废处理，不过这项任务通常外包给负责收集和处理电子垃圾的生产者责任组织（PRO）。WEEE制度因专注于按照传统线性经济模式处理垃圾而受到批评，而在循环经济中，目标是消除垃圾。信息共享有助于提高循环性，数字技术被视为能实现供应链中的信息透明度和可视性。然而，需要实证研究来证明供应链中信息的使用对提高循环性的作用。我们对一家制造商进行了案例研究，包括其在八个欧洲国家的子公司和PRO，在此过程中我们调查了与电子垃圾相关的产品生命周期信息流。我们的研究结果表明产品生命周期信息是存在的，但提供这些信息是出于电子垃圾处理以外的目的。各行为主体愿意分享这些信息，但这些信息不被视为对报废处理有用，因为参与报废处理的行为主体认为使用这些信息可能会导致电子垃圾处理出现延误和表现不佳的情况。我们的研究结果与数字技术能改善循环供应链管理中的循环性这一乐观看法相矛盾。这些结果进一步让人质疑，只要相关行为主体不要求提供该信息，实施数字技术以改善产品生命周期信息流是否合理。
