IMPACT ASSESSMENT OF THE EXTENDED PRODUCTION RESPONSIBILITY IMPLEMENTATION IN VIETNAM: A STUDY ON ELECTRONIC WASTE MANAGEMENT

The electronic waste is now raised in Vietnam as emerging issue, not only by its impact on the environment and public health, but also the chance to utilize the natural resources. In order to sustainable management of major urban-mine sources, including e-waste, an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system is proposed under the Decision 16/QĐ-TTg dated 22, May, 2015, to extend the responsibility of producers to the end-of-life product. In this study, the Material Flow Analysis and Policy assessment tool are applied to assess the impact of the EPR system, in case of large home appliances and to find the obstacles on the implementation of the system. Among the experimental appliances, air conditioner has the highest rate of valuable materials and also the highest rate of recyclable materials, then follows the refrigerator, washing machine and desktop computer. On the opposite, Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor has the highest rate of hazardous compounds, where washing machine has no hazardous matter. Three scenarios were developed and assessed based on the obtained benefit–cost from dismantled material and hazardous waste. It is shown that the role of intermediate stakeholders, the infrastructure for e-waste treatment and monetary distribution flows under the pressure of legislation are the main factors that caused failure in the application of the EPR system in Vietnam