Enablers and barriers for producer responsibility in the electrical and electronic equipment sector

ZeroWIN (Towards Zero Waste in Industrial Networks - www.zerowin.eu) is a five year project funded by the EC under the 7th Framework Programme. Amongst others, ZeroWIN examines how producers' responsibility can be applied in the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) and photovoltaic sectors. Discussion about extending producers' responsibility for environmental impacts of their products to the entire product life cycle began in the 1990s. Since then, many environmental regulations focusing on treatment of end-of-life products have incorporated the concept of producer responsibility. This paper identifies and critically discusses global implementation of producer responsibility in the photovoltaic and EEE industrial sectors. Characteristics of current systems and markets preventing or facilitating its implementation are discussed.