How effective are WEEE policies in China? A strategy evaluation through a PMC-index model with content analysis

Worldwide, policies play a critical role in establishing a sound management system for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE). However, under the guidance of existing policies, WEEE in China still faces the problems of an imperfect management system and a low collection rate. Currently, there is a lack of quantitative evaluation of China's WEEE policies. This study firstly presents a novel approach by combining the Policy Modeling Consistency Index (PMC-Index) model and a content analysis model to quantify the consistency of 103 WEEE policies. Among these, 12 sample policies were selected and analyzed from 10 aspects, and a three-dimensional analysis framework was constructed for revealing the policy emphasis on the WEEE industry. The results showed that China's WEEE policies were evaluated favorably on 7 out of 10 variables, have a good external environment and coved a wide range of economic, institutional, and technological areas. However, lack of multiple governmental departments cooperation and target planning are the main problems of existing policies. The collection stage is crucial for the entire WEEE industry, but governmental authority should be strengthened. This study proposes the coordinated release of policies with short-, medium-, and long-term objectives for multiple governmental departments. Establishing one WEEE monitoring, and control platform is also essential. This study is expected to provide scientific evidence and recommendations for China's WEEE policy formulation and optimization.