Investigating reuse of B2C WEEE in Ireland

Abstract

The environmental impact associated with electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) is relatively large throughout its life cycle when compared to other durable consumer products. Prioritisation of reuse of WEEE is one approach that has been proposed to reduce manufacturing impacts and contribute to a reduction in this lifecycle burden. This paper aims to address two key issues in the area of reuse of EEE. (1) When should an appliance be reused and (2) what general conditions must be present for a successful reuse industry to operate? Surveys were conducted for five European reuse enterprises with the aim of determining the WEEE categories\products with the most significant potential for reuse and to examine the critical success factors for these enterprises to operate. Preliminary proposals to integrate reuse/refurbishment practices into the Irish WEEE waste management structure are outlined. The social dimensions of reuse are also discussed I.

Social Franchising Model as a Scaling Strategy for ICT Reuse: A Case Study of an International Franchise

“…Our paper aims to address this problem through an explorative case study of a social franchise operating with ICT reuse and a comparative analysis of its three franchisees. This study's findings contribute to the literature on scaling social enterprises [8,10,11,18,19], social franchising [12,13] and reuse of ICT [14,17].…”

“…Our in-depth, inductive study aimed to disentangle the key factors that explain a successful social franchising model operating in the reuse of ICT. By answering this research question, we contribute to literature investigating scalability strategies for social enterprises [6][7][8][10][11][12][13]19,28] and the reuse industry [14][15][16][17] in several ways.…”

“…However, it is important to be aware of and consider several key factors that significantly contribute to companies' success. The practice of reuse manages to generate a wide range of ancillary social and economic benefits ranging from providing employment and training opportunities for people with disabilities or the long-term unemployed to providing access to suitable equipment for people with low incomes in both the developed and the developing world, thus helping to bridge the digital divide [14]. It is also a major source of ICT equipment for businesses and educational organizations in the developing world to help promote vitally needed economic development [15,16].…”