Abstract-This work studies the two Reverse Logistics models used in European countries for collection of Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), compares their advantages and disadvantages and proposes a framework that helps the decision making process. The paper is articulated as follows. First, a literature review has been carried out regarding the two systems of WEEE Collection in the European Union: i.e. National Collective Scheme and Clearing House Model. Second, an integrated framework is proposed for managing Reverse Logistics in the disposal of electrical and electronic products and their components at the end of their lifetime. The proposed model may help in the decision making process of which collection system better fits the specific characteristics of a country.
I. INTRODUCTIONIn the last two decades, the problem related to pollution and environmental management, gained much importance. The concept of sustainable development, defined as development that "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs" [1] has become increasingly recurrent.In this scenario, there is an increasing importance of the so-called reverse logistics understood as the collection of resources and activities dedicated to the recovery and recycling of end-of-life products discarded by users [2], [3]. These considerations are particularly important when referring to the production of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), one of the fastest growing manufacturing sectors [4], in which technological innovation and market expansion continue to speed up the replacement process and the number of new applications of EEE.In order to address environmental problems related to the management of WEEE, starting from the '80/'90 some EU Member States began to develop specific national legislations. Based on these considerations, the European Directive 2002/96/CE entered into force on January 27 2003 [5], [6]. This directive was aimed to prevent and limit the flow of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and their components to landfill through reuse and recycling policies [7]. This Directive was revised with the publication of the Directive 2012/19/EU (entered into force on August 13, 2012) because of the increasing of this waste. To appropriately manage the environmental problems associated with the recovery of WEEE in Europe, Directive 2012/19/EU imposes a separate collection of WEEE which must be guaranteed by appropriate systems so that users can easily discard their electrical and electronic equipments.In this regard, the directive leaves to the producers the freedom to choose whether to fulfil their responsibility by implementing their own individual recovery system or participating in collective collection schemes or shared systems with other companies which are associated in order to reap the benefits of economies of scale. In the vast majority of European countries the most widespread collection system is of the second type.Collective schemes ...