An Effectiveness Assessment of China's WEEE Treatment Fund

Policy is essential to the management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). In order to present valuable findings for policy improvement, we performed a quantitative effectiveness assessment of China's WEEE treatment fund from 2012 to 2015. The achievement of the general goal of the WEEE treatment fund was evaluated with various indicators. We calculated the values of all indicators and analyzed the changes in them. The results show that the WEEE treatment fund was important in promoting WEEE collection and recycling activities and has provided great benefits in the form of resources and the environment. Moreover, the authorized enterprises also experienced progress in their development. In a word, the WEEE treatment fund was effective to some extent. However, because of the limited subsidies and other factors, the WEEE treatment fund had different effects on five categories of WEEE. We found that its approach worked best for the TV set. Although the promotional effects on the other four categories of WEEE have been increasingly significant since 2014, there is room for improvement. Fortunately, the subsidy rates have been adjusted by administrations and new subsidies were provided in 2016. As it is crucial for the effectiveness of the WEEE treatment fund, new subsidy rates should be evaluated regularly.