Producer responsibility, waste minimisation and the WEEE Directive: case studiesin ecodesign from the European lighting sector

It is argued that assigning financial responsibility for the collection andrecycling of end-of life products encourages producers to avoid such financialburdens by taking actions to minimise waste, including eco-design. Thisprinciple is incorporated in the European Directive for Waste Electrical andElectronic Equipment (WEEE, 2002/96/EC). Eight case studies were conducted usingsecondary data and in-depth structured discussions with company informants.These explored company responses to national producer responsibility schemeswhere they existed and declared responses to the new WEEE Directive. The casesinvolved large and small enterprises in the lighting equipment sector in Sweden,the UK, the Netherlands and Germany. An analytical framework was devised toexplain drivers for ecodesign, and within this, the role of producerresponsibility regulation. Quantitative data to confirm a link between wasteminimisation, eco-design and producer responsibility interventions weredifficult to obtain. The case studies showed that the costs imposed on producersin this sector have little effect on product development so far. Most producershave been able to, or perceive they will be able to, pass on incremental coststo customers with negligible effects on competitive advantage. This reflects aperception that demand for their products is relatively price inelastic, and,because all producers in the sector will be impacted equally, there will belimited effects on the competitive position of any one company. The choicebetween individual version collective recovery schemes rested on perceptions ofrelative costs and practicability. It was evident that other drivers, such asbans on hazardous substances, product declarations, and supply chain pressuresespecially by public sector purchasers were often more effective promoters ofeco-design. Thus, it seems a mix of policy interventions and mechanisms isrequired.