For more details of the bidding and the work outline, please kindly refer to the attached document. A brief background is given below:

1. Background

With China gradually entering the peak period of Electrical and Electronic Waste, the nonstandard disposal of waste electrical and electronic products, such as open burning, illegal dumping, etc. generated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and heavy metals, which has caused serious pollution to the air, soil and water environment around the dismantling site and great pressure to the implementation of the Stockholm Convention. In order to fulfil the requirements of National Implementation Plan under Stockholm Convention and effectively reduce POPs emissions in the life cycle of electrical and electronic products as well as protect the ecological environment, Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center/Ministry of Ecology and Environment (FECO/MEE), in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), developed the Global Environment Fund (GEF) demonstration project “Reduction of POPs and PTS released by environmentally sound management throughout the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment and associated wastes in China”. Foreign Environmental Cooperation Center, as the national implementing agency of the project, is responsible for the overall coordination and management of the project. Through the analysis on the life cycle of electrical and electronic equipment, the project will carry out activities including the improvement of policy standards, strengthening of regulatory capacity, ecological design, recovery system and disposal technology demonstration with the aim of reducing emissions of POPs and improving the system of environmentally sound management of electrical and electronic products and technical standard.

Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) is an environmental governance strategy originated from Europe in the 1990s, which has been adopted by more and more countries and implemented through legislation. In the field of waste electrical and electronic products recycling and disposal, European Union, Japan etc., has made achievements worth introducing to the world in implementing the EPR system. Effective since January 1, 2011, China’s Regulation on the Administration of the Recovery and Disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"), clearly defines the principles of waste electrical and electronic products recycling through catalogue system, planning management, license management, multi-channel recycling, subsidies, centralized treatment, etc., bringing electronic waste recycling into a legal and systematic management track. The Regulation is a concrete manifestation of the implementation of EPR for the electrical and electronic products industry and promotes the standardization and rapid development of the relevant industry in China. In 2016, the the State Council issued the Implementation Plan of Extended Producer Responsibility System, proposing that the EPR should be an inherent requirement to speed up the construction of ecological civilization and the development of green circulation and low carbon economy. As the first industry to carry out EPR system, electrical and electronic product industry explored its implementation and has achieved progress. Relevant regulations have been incorporated into the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Prevention and Control of Environment Pollution Caused by Solid Wastes (Draft Revision) passed in 2019.

Although the fund subsidy and supervision system of waste electrical and electronic products implemented in China has good characteristics, there is still a long way to go in order to truly solve the problem of recovery and disposal of waste electrical and electronic products. In particular, problems such as weak standards of recycling links, lack of responsibilities of producers and consumers, and difficulties in implementing standard clauses lead to inefficiencies in regulating the development of domestic waste electrical and electronic products recycling industry. Since 2014, the Catalogue of Waste Electrical and Electronic Products for Disposal (2014 Edition) has added products such as printers and mobile phones with an expansion from 5 categories to 14 categories. The newly added 9 categories of products are quite different from the original catalogue products which are television, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, computers in terms of product market size, environmental hazards and resource value, as well as huge differences in recycling methods and management approaches. In order to fulfill the requirements of the Overall Reform Plan of Ecological Civilization System, practice a green lifestyle, speed up the establishment of an institutional framework of EPR, improve the level of ecological civilization construction, and effectively solve the challenges faced by China in the field of recycling and disposal of waste electrical and electronic products in the long run, it is urgent to carry out research and analysis on various types of EPR models used internationally in comparison with the domestic e-waste fund subsidy and regulatory system and to evaluate the policy effect of the Regulations. Based on the research of the recycling and management modes of the newly added 9 kinds of waste electrical and electronic products, the revision of the Regulations is of great significance to the construction of "waste-free city" in China and further improve the construction of recycling channels for waste electrical and electronic products in China and to find an EPR management mode that is truly suitable for China's national conditions.

2. Objective

The objectives are to hire a consulting institution to carry out the following research aiming at providing necessary technology and advice for further improving and perfecting China's EPR system and reducing POPs environmental emissions: study on various international EPR management modes in comparison with the pros and cons of China's EPR management system of the electrical and electronic products industry, with full consideration of "Waste-free City" Development and Implementation Plan of Extended Producer Responsibility System, along with other work programs; evaluation of the policy effect of the Regulations at the present stage based on experience gained and problems discovered in the implementation process; policy proposal on revision of the Regulation according to the analysis of gap at the recycling end of waste electrical and electronic products alongside the existing research results.