Two decades, three WEEE systems: How far did EPR evolve in Korea's resource circulation policy?

• Published in: Resources, conservation and recycling conservation and recycling, 2014-02, Vol.83, p.202-212
• Main Authors: Manomaivibool, Panate, Hong, Jong Ho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Circular economy; Deposit refund system; Exact sciences and technology; Extended producer responsibility; Material flow analysis; Pollution; Reuse; Waste electrical and electronic equipment
• ISSN: 0921-3449; 1879-0658
• DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.10.011

•Korea's WEEE policy has evolved in 3 phases for the past 20 years.•Refunds of deposits failed to motivate recycling in Phase 1.•Producers’ recycling obligations replaced the deposit refund system in Phase 2.•EPR is strengthened with design requirements for new products in Phase 3.•However, a large hidden flow will be a challenge for future policy targets. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) has become a dominant policy paradigm for the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) in the last two decades. In South Korea the principle has guided the evolution of the resource circulation policy even before its official introduction through a revision of the recycling law in 2002. Elements of producer responsibilities could be found in the producer-based deposit refund system (DRS) a decade earlier and they were strengthened through the enactment of a new resource circulation law in 2008. This article reviews the policy changes in South Korea for the management of WEEE during the past 20 years. The focus of the analysis is on the impacts of EPR and the producers’ responses that were expressed through the quantity and the quality of material flows in the society. The findings are discussed in light of international experiences in order to outline measures to improve the effectiveness of the EPR-based resource circulation policy that could have broader implications beyond the case study.