Appendix B: Evaluation Criteria for Cell Phones
Government policy objectives
As stated in the project brief issued by the Ministry for the Environment and the product stewardship discussion document, the policy objectives are to ensure that any product stewardship scheme:
- leads to environmental gains;
- is effective and efficient;
- contains publicly reported, challenging, performance measures, quantifiable where possible;
- is transparent;
- does not reduce market competition;
- sets safe standards for collection and handling;
- provides a forum for communication and industry-wide discussion to address any issues;
- includes public information and education components;
- includes provision for monitoring and reporting on effectiveness;
- compares favourably with international best practice;
- is compliant with international trade agreements;
- includes the costs of enforcement and management of "free-riders";
- internalises waste management costs.
In addition to the above, the benefits of any regulatory aspects supporting the schemes should outweigh the costs.
As part of the requirement for schemes to be "effective and efficient", the Government needs to ensure:
- the schemes are stable and there is widespread uptake by the private sector;
- the risks are minimised;
- the scheme benefits outweigh the cost, considering a raft of dimensions including: the nature of the waste (how much, geographical spread) and how it is currently managed (waste tracking mechanisms, other waste minimisation programmes); and other major impacts arising from product manufacture, use and disposal (ie, is waste a significant issue for the product?);
- there is potential for scheme improvement (considering, for example, potential for improved waste minimisation, green design or alternative waste uses);
- requirements for company and public participation.
Administrative costs (from assumed government input) must also be taken into account, including costs of enforcement and management of free-riders.
Environmental and social outcomes
The product stewardship schemes have the potential to affect the following environmental and social outcomes (externalities) including:
- more efficient use of resources;
- increased resources recovered;
- effects on biodiversity and ecosystems;
- transport costs;
- human health effects arising from disposal of hazardous components from the phone;
- soil resources and water quality - landfill leachate through phone contaminants;
- relationship with Maori;
- community benefits through reuse of product;
- community business opportunities;
- user support and buy-in (for example teenage cell phone users);
- local and regional economic wellbeing;
- economic security implications.
Stakeholder opportunities/risks
In addition to environmental and social outcomes (externalities), the product stewardship schemes have the potential to impact on a range of stakeholder groups. These include manufacturers, brand owners, wholesalers, importers, distributors, retailers, service providers, as well as local and regional government.
Potential internal stakeholder opportunities and risks include:
- branding and reputation;
- enhanced product design;
- competitiveness and market differentiation;
- business support, including company participation, maintenance requirements and staff education (which can be compounded if there is a high turnover in a particularly important area, such as sales);
- business risks including changes in industry that could affect the scheme;
- administration costs;
- impact on imports;
- implications for trade agreements;
- safe collection and handling of recovered materials including processing (for example choice of recycler, transport, export issues, eventual fate of phone components).
