A Comparative Study On Reverse Logistics Of The Disposed Household Appliance From The Recycling Of Resources Perspective

With the development of science and technology, the accelerated process ofindustrialization, the human’s ability of transformation and use of nature has rapidlyincreased. As a result, a lot of mineral resources were exploited. Deforestation andfast resource consumption rate made human in the crisis of resource depletion. At thesame time, many countries in the world have entered the period of householdappliances’ updated peak. A lot of waste household electric appliances wereabandoned every year. How to deal with the waste household electric appliancesbecomes a thorny problem faced by governments.Waste household electric appliances have double attributes. On the one hand,they are harmful, because they can cause environmental pollution, waste ofresources and obstacle the sustainable development. On the other hand, they havepotential value, if properly handled, we can obtain lots of valuable resources, andpromoting the sustainable development of our country.Specifically speaking, waste household electric appliances should belong to thescope of toxic, hazardous materials. If directly incinerated or buried, it will pollutethe atmosphere, soil and water, and threatening human health. At the same time,there are lots of recyclable materials in discarded appliances. It has a high value. Ifproperly handled, it will be able to change waste into treasure, and easily resolvedthe crisis of resources. Practice has proved that implementation of reverse logisticsof disused household appliance is a kind of effective treatment. It can maximize theuse of waste, conserve resources and easily resolved the resource problem.Especially, it has extremely vital significance to achieve the goals of sustainabledevelopment strategy.Discarded appliances Reverse logistics includes all relating to logisticsactivities carried out in source reduction, recycling, substitution, reuse of materialsand disposal, such as collecting, transporting and storing waste electronic products.At present, many countries have actively supported the development of the reverse logistics industry, and regard discarded appliances reverse logistics as an importantway to conserve resources and solve the problem of resource bottlenecks.China is household appliances production and consumption country. Beginningin2000, it entered the peak of household appliances replacement. Each year morethan30million home appliances have been eliminated. Because China has notestablished formal discarded appliances reverse logistics system, the vast majority ofwaste home appliances can not be effectively recycled use. It is a tremendous wasteof resources and significant security risks involved. Therefore, it is extremely urgentto build the reverse logistics system of waste home appliances.In order to promote the building of Chinese waste home appliances reverselogistics system, to master the development of waste home appliances reverselogistics in foreign countries, and learn more about other countries’ policies andmeasures about promoting the development of the reverse logistics industry, thisarticle specially selected17typical state across six continents except Antarctica, andresearch on the reverse logistics development status of these countries, and analyzetheir success and failures of the development of the reverse logistics of discardedappliances.Though research on the development of discarded appliances reverse logisticsin foreign countries, I found law and government are important two factors affectingthe development of reverse logistics of discarded appliances. And only providestrong legal protection and government promotion, the discarded appliances reverselogistics industry can develop soundly and rapidly.European governments generally place more emphasis on waste electronicproducts disposal problems, enacted stringent legislation to regulate people’sbehavior, and made incentive and restraint mechanisms to guide enterprises to carryout the reverse logistics activities, and encourage enterprises using advancedtechnology to improve the utilization of recycled waste materials. So, reverselogistics industry of discarded appliances has developed rapidly in Europe.The Japanese government also laid more emphasis on the E-waste problem, andsuccessively promulgated a series of laws and regulations to guide the development of the reverse logistics industry. With the support of Japanese home appliancemanufacturers and national, Japanese reverse logistics industry of discardedappliances has developed rapidly, and has established a better recycling system.In comparison, the U.S. government has not paid much attention to the problemof electronic waste, only rely on local governments and social forces to promote thedevelopment of the reverse logistics of waste home appliances. Being no federalsupport, states reverse logistics industry developed in different ways. Generallyspeaking, reverse logistics industry of discarded appliances has developed slowly inU.S., except for California and some states. In order to solve the problem ofelectronic waste, the United States exports a lot of electronic waste to developingcountries.Developing countries generally pay little attention to E-waste problems. Mostlycountries have not made laws and regulations specifically for electronic wastemanagement. In developing countries, a lot of informal collection points appeared.They always use backward and unscientific method. It can not only waste recyclablematerials, and also have a negative impact on the environment.In summary, it is very important for government to promote the development ofthe reverse logistics industry. Government should make E-waste laws andregulations, and take appropriate measures to guide, regulate and promote thedevelopment of the reverse logistics industry. The Chinese government has started topay attention to discarded appliances management. In February2009, governmentissued the law of waste electrical and electronic product recycling regulations.Immediately, in June, the government carried out old for new business. It is a goodway to promote the development of the reverse logistics industry. However, Chinesewaste home appliances reverse logistics industry is still in its infancy. There is stillmany problems. It needs the joint efforts of government, business and national topromote the development of the waste home appliances reverse logistics industry.