Waste management has become a major priority for governments in the 2000s. A
new EU Directive (The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Directive) makes
business responsible for the electrical and electronic products they produce and
obliges firms to recover and recycle their products when they reach the end of their
useful life. Consumers are entitled, as from 2004, to return waste equipment either
to the place of purchase or to an authorised collection point
free of charge. From this
point, firms will be responsible for collection, recovery and recycling.
(a) Apply the ‘polluter pays’ principle to an analysis of this regulation.
(b) The affected industries have argued that they should be permitted to impose a
collective tax on the products to cover the costs of complying with the
Directive. Examine the economic case for and against such action.