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Chinese e-waste legislation, current status and future development

Martin Streicher-Porte, Katharina Kummer, Xinwen Chi, Stefan Denzler and Xuejun Wang

elni Review 2010, Issue 1,  pp. 7-17. https://doi.org/10.46850/elni.2010.002

Recently, several environmental laws and regulations concerning both waste of electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) as well as the production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) have been enacted. Some of them have been implemented, whilst others are in the process of implementation or revision - both in Europe and China. As the production of EEE and the treatment of WEEE are globalised, legislation of both has moved away from being an isolated ‘European phenomena’.
This paper gives a short introduction to relevant legislative processes in China and Europe and establishes differences between their current characteristics in terms of EEE and WEEE. It analyses in detail the Chinese EEE and WEEE related laws and regulations and compares the most prominent texts and their impact on producers and consumers. To conclude the technical draft of a Chinese National E-waste Law developed under the Swiss e-waste programme 'Knowledge Partnerships in e-Waste Recycling' is presented.

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