Ecodesign Strategy for Demand-Oriented Electrical and Electronic Products

Abstract

Governments of various countries have formulated relevant EPR environmental regulations for environmental pollution caused by electrical and electronic products, and enterprises mainly respond to this regulation through product ecodesign strategies. In view of this, this paper takes a three-stage supply chain system composed of a manufacturer, a retailer and a third-party recycler as the research object, and develops a demand-oriented product ecodesign strategy for five scenarios under different environmental regulations, including eco-input subsidy, sales subsidy, consumption subsidy and recycling subsidy. This study finds that the manufacturer does not actively engage in product ecodesign if the government does not implement subsidy policies; when the government implements subsidy policies such as eco-input subsidy, sales subsidy, or consumption subsidy, the manufacturer will design a high-level ecological product. However, under the recycling subsidy policy, the manufacturer will design a low-level ecological product. These results suggest that different subsidy policies may lead to different eco-product strategies of the manufacturer. In particular, the recycling subsidy policy can encourage a recycler to recycle actively, thus reducing the environmental pollution cost of a manufacturer, but the manufacturer is reluctant to improve the ecological level of the finished product.