Business‐to‐Business Information Technology User Practices at End of Life in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France

Abstract

Summary Business‐to‐business (B2B) electronics account for a significant volume of the electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) put on the market. Very little B2B waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is reported as collected in the European Union (EU) in compliance with the WEEE Directive, which uses the policy principle of extended producer responsibility (EPR) to ensure that WEEE is managed correctly. This presents a barrier to parties looking for access to the waste. Company practice dictates the channels into which B2B WEEE flows following primary use. This article presents a study that engaged with company actors directly to get a better understanding of business information technology (IT) EEE asset management. Data were collected to determine the barriers current practice could present to the collection of B2B IT EEE at end of life and the implications of these for the development of policies and strategies for EPR. A questionnaire was developed and data were gathered from organizations in three EU countries—the United Kingdom, Germany, and France—stratified by size. Some notable findings were that there are several routes by which end‐of‐life B2B WEEE can flow. The recycling and refurbishment of B2B IT units at end of use was shown to be commonplace, but it is likely that these units enter streams where they are not reported. The actors disposing of their units did not have information on the management or disposition of these streams. It is concluded that to achieve the goals of EPR for B2B IT WEEE, the networks and the operational practices of these streams need to be better understood when developing strategies and policies.

Electronic waste recovery in Finland: Consumers’ perceptions towards recycling and re-use of mobile phones

“…The re-use sector for EEE has grown steadily over the last decades; however, there is still a lot of latent potential (Babbitt et al, 2011;Kissling et al, 2012;Peagam et al, 2013). Generic re-use operating models for EEE as well as success factors and barriers in re-use of EEE have recently been investigated by Kissling et al (2012Kissling et al ( , 2013.…”

“…Barriers related to regulations, standards, product design and costs were identified as well. (Kissling et al, 2013) For improving the access to sufficient volumes of good quality EOL EEE, the studies of Babbitt et al recycling and refurbishment of B2B ICT devices at the end of use seem to be commonplace in the EU (Peagam et al, 2013). The study of Peagam et al (2013) also showed that the majority of devices reached their EOL after 3 to 4 years or in 3 years if the units had fixed replacement periods.…”

“…(Kissling et al, 2013) For improving the access to sufficient volumes of good quality EOL EEE, the studies of Babbitt et al recycling and refurbishment of B2B ICT devices at the end of use seem to be commonplace in the EU (Peagam et al, 2013). The study of Peagam et al (2013) also showed that the majority of devices reached their EOL after 3 to 4 years or in 3 years if the units had fixed replacement periods. Peagam et al (2013) note, that product lifetimes for B2B are shorter than for B2C and, therefore, there could be an untapped use potential and the likelihood of financial value for B2B devices.…”

The evolution of the Italian EPR system for the management of household Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Technical and economic performance in the spotlight

“…The time laps between selling EEE and the collection of WEEE cannot justify these results. According to Peagam et al (2013), very little business-to-business WEEE is reported as collected in Europe. Italy reported to Eurostat that around 5 kg per capita of WEEE are collected from sources other than households: the highest among EU countries (average 0.6 kg in 2012).…”

Extended Producer Responsibility

“…In “Business‐to‐Business Information Technology User Practices at End‐of‐Life in the United Kingdom, Germany, and France,” Peagam and colleagues () provide an empirical study targeted at (1) understanding the end‐of‐life characteristics of business‐to‐business (B2B) information technology (IT) product markets, and (2) determining the challenges associated with the collection and recycling of such products under the scope of EPR mandates such as the WEEE Directive of the European Commission. They describe a survey of commercial users of IT equipment in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany regarding the users’ end‐of‐life management of WEEE.…”