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Environmental and resource recovery efficiency assessment of the

obsolete mobile phones recycling system
To cite this article: Nannan Xue 2019 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 300 032069

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REES2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 300 (2019) 032069 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/300/3/032069

Environmental and resource recovery efficiency assessment of

the obsolete mobile phones recycling system

Nannan Xue*
School of Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin, China

*Corresponding author e-mail: xuenan1113@163.com

Abstract. Considering environmental protection and resource recovery efficiency, the

building of low pollution and high efficiency for recycling system of obsolete mobile
phones has been a huge issue. Through system dynamics, the recycling model of
obsolete mobile phone is built, which involving the recycling effect under different
recycling situations between formal and informal recyclers. The vensim PLE software
is used to simulate and assess influence variables in the model. The results show that
the formal recycling system can improve the efficiency of recovery and reuse or
recycling of obsolete mobile phones.

1. Introduction
Mobile phone is an indispensable electronic product in people's daily life. The continuous progress of
its core technology and the innovation of function drive consumers to replace it frequently. China's
obsolete mobile phones are characterized by large amount, low recycling rate and high resource value.
In addition, due to the complex components of obsolete mobile phone, irrational resource disposal will
cause serious environmental pollution and human health damage.
International and domestic academics have conducted a series of studies on Waste Electrical and
Electronic Equipment (WEEE). Sabbaghi et al argued that high costs for maintenance services drive
most mobile phones into recycling. Insufficient use of mobile phone can lead to value leakage [1]. Yu
et al believe that the lack of standardized recycling and treatment channels of WEEE leads to
increasingly serious damage to the ecological environment [2]. Ardi et al. proposed that, especially in
developing countries, the informal sector plays an important role in the management system of WEEE
[3]. Li et al. proposed that due to the lack of formal and convenient recycling models and effective
incentive measures, it is difficult to establish a formal recycling mode operation mechanism [4]. Song
et al. presented that the amount of formal disposal of WEEE in China is increasing steadily at present,
but it still faces challenges such as imbalance between fund levy and subsidy, homogeneity of recycling
industry and imperfect regulation [5]. Therefore, the selection of recycling channels has become a hot
issue of recycling used mobile phones. Wu et al. researched consumers' behavioral intention of WEEE
recycling from the perspectives of formal-informal and emotional-rational. The results show that
emotional recycling behavior intention is formal recycling orientation, while rational recycling behavior
intention reflects informal recycling tendency [6].
None of the above literatures consider the influence of government dismantling subsidies and service
level differences on the recycling amount and profit under the market competition in different recycling
channels. Based on System Dynamics (SD), a recycling model considering formal incentives and

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REES2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 300 (2019) 032069 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/300/3/032069

informal constraints is established. From the perspective of government subsidies and service
investment, this paper forecasts the recycling scale and profit of China's recyclers from 2010 to 2025,
which can provide a reference for the government to optimize the recycling mode of obsolete mobile
phones.

2. Methodology

2.1. Generic conceptual model

From the perspective of consumers, the lifecycle of mobile phones can be divided into three stages: use,
storage and recycle. Figure 1 shows the general recycling process and state changes of obsolete mobile
phones. After the lifespan of the mobile phone, recyclers are involved in different types of recycling
operations according to the degree of damage,i.e. dismantling, refurbishment, remanufacture and
secondary market. Some of the disassembled waste material may end up in landfill or incineration.

Secondary
Market
lifespan Refurbishment,
Using Storage Recycling
Remanufacture

Dismantling
Landfill

Incineration

Fig. 1 Simplified conceptual model of the obsolete mobile phone.

2.2. Model Hypothesis

Hypothesis 1: There are both formal and informal recyclers in the market. Formal recyclers refer to the
recycling departments that receive government dismantling subsidies, including recyclers led by
retailers or manufacturers and third-party recyclers. Informal recyclers are small business hawkers who
do not have the qualification to dismantle. Hypothesis 2: The obsolete mobile phones are all from the
residents' homes.

2.3. Casual-loop diagram of the model

In order to appropriately depict the behavior of a system and feedback structure, the causal loop diagram
(CLD) is employed, which is represented by the arrows. A sign (+) denotes the change of two variables
in the same direction, while a sign (-) is opposite.
Fig2 shows the CLD of the model considering dismantling subsidies, which consists of reinforcing
(R) loops and balancing (B) loops. Loop R1 expresses the increasing trend of obsolete mobile phones
in residents' homes. The balancing loops consist of loop B1 to B2 and represent the impact of service
inputs on the recycling competition of formal and informal recyclers.
As shown in Fig3, Loop R2 represents the positive impact of dismantling subsidy on formal recyclers,
while the dismantling subsidies limits the development of informal recyclers in the Loop B3. Fig3
indicates that the recycling price of obsolete mobile phone changes with the international average market
price of valuables after dismantling.

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REES2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 300 (2019) 032069 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/300/3/032069

Household+ R1 Purchase rate

+ +

Idle mobile phone

+The informal
The formal +
recycling amount recycling amount
+
Formal annual + + +
recycling Formal service B2
+
- input per phone
Informal B1 -
recycling price
+ Informal annual
recycling
Price difference between +
formal and informal

Fig.2 A subsystem considering service level

Dismantling
subsidies

+ -
The formal The informal
recycling amount recycling amount
+
+
+ R2 B3 +
formal profit per informal profit
phone per phone
- + + -
formal recycling informal
price + recycling price
+ +
The average price of the international
market of valuables after dismantling

Fig.3 A subsystem considering dismantling subsidies

2.4. Stock-flow diagram of the model

Based on the CLD, the stock-flow diagram (SFD) of the recycling is presented in the Fig4. In this figure,
the stock of idle mobile phone is increased by replacement rate, which is influenced by household and
lifespan. Formal profit per phone depends on formal recycling price, dismantling subsidies, formal
dismantling costs per phone and formal service input per phone. The equation of these relationship is
as follows:

Idle mobile phones = INTEG (Replacement rate) (1)

Replacement Rate = Household/Lifespan (2)
Formal profit per phone = Formal recycling price+ Dismantling subsidies
-Formal dismantling costs per phone - Formal service input per phone (3)

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REES2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 300 (2019) 032069 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/300/3/032069

Household lifespan
Purchase rate
Replacement rate
<Time>
Formal recycled Informal recycled
Idle mobile phones
mobile phones mobile phones
formal informal
recycling rate recycling rate
Number of formal Number of
formal dismantling recycler informal recycler
informal annual
costs per phone informal recycling
formal profit per
formal annual phone recycling price
recycling Dismantling
subsidies
formal service
formal recycling input per phone
price
+
The average price of valuables
Price difference between
formal and informal

Fig.4 The stock-flow diagram of obsolete mobile phone recycling

3. Simulation analysis

3.1. Simulation under the influence of dismantling subsidy

Unlike informal recyclers, the dismantling activities of formal recyclers are standardized and
environmentally friendly. With the standardization of obsolete mobile phone recycling, the Chinese
government has set up recycling funds and dismantling subsidies to make up for the high dismantling
cost of formal recyclers .In this paper, it is assumed that the dismantling subsidies for formal recyclers
is 5 RMB (current1), 10 RMB (current2) and 15 RMB (current3), the simulation results of different
recycling amount are shown in figure 5.

informal annual recycling amount formal annual recycling amount

4,000 4,000

3,000 3,000
3
2
1 3
1
1 1
thousand

thousand

2 2
3
2,000 3 3 1
2
2,000
3
1 3 2
1 3
2 2 1 1
1,000 3
2 2 1,000 2
1 2
3 3
1 3 3 1 2 2
2 3 1 1
1 3 1
2 1
2 2 3
1
3
2 3
2
1 2
3 3
1 3 3 3
2 1 3
0 0 3
2
1 2
1
3 3
2
1 2
1 3
2
1 2
1 2
1
2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
Time (Year) Time (Year)
informal annual recycling amount : Current1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 formal annual recycling amount : Current1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
informal annual recycling amount : Current2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 formal annual recycling amount : Current2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
informal annual recycling amount : Current3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 formal annual recycling amount : Current3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Fig .5 The annual recycling amount under different dismantling subsidies

Figure 5 compares the recycling trends of formal and informal recyclers under different dismantling
subsidies. With the increase of dismantling subsidy, the recycling amount of formal recyclers shows an
upward trend, while the informal recyclers keeps decreasing. Therefore, dismantling subsidies promote
the development of formal recyclers and inhibit the informal recyclers.

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REES2019 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Earth and Environmental Science 300 (2019) 032069 doi:10.1088/1755-1315/300/3/032069

3.2. Simulation under the influence of different service levels

With the improvement of living standard, people pay more attention to service quality. As a private item,
mobile phone contains a lot of personal information and requires a safer dispose. When the service cost
of each obsolete mobile phone is 5 RMB (current1), 8 RMB (current2) and 12 RMB (current3)
respectively, the profit of formal recyclers is shown in Figure 6.

The profit of formal sector

100

90
2
3 2
RMB/units

2
3
1 2
3
1 2 1 2
80 2 2
3
2
3 3
2
2 3 2
3
2
3 1 3 2 3 3
1 2 3 1
1 1 3 1 1 1
1 1 1 1
70

60
2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2022 2024
Time (Year)
The profit of formal sector : current1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
The profit of formal sector : current2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
The profit of formal sector : current3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 3

Fig. 6 The profit of formal recyclers under different service costs

Fig 6 reveals that the quality service conditions of formal recyclers ,which attracts more consumers
to hand over the obsolete mobile phones to formal recyclers .However, the high investment in service
level means the increase of recycling cost, which leads to the reduction of mobile phone recycling profit.
As shown in figure 6, when the service cost increases from 5 to 8 RMB, the profit of formal recycling
increases, and when the service cost increases from 8 to 12 RMB, the recycling profit decreases.
Therefore, it can be seen that the reasonable service charges range of formal recyclers is between 8 and
12 RMB.

4. Conclusion
This paper aims to assess the effect of dismantling subsidies and service level to the formal and informal
recyclers in recycling.
The research shows that: (1) due to the influence of dismantling subsidies, the competitive
advantages of formal recyclers are increasingly prominent; (2) the investment of formal recyclers in
service level promotes the increase of recovery profit, but the service cost should be controlled within
the reasonable range of 8-12 RMB.

References
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policies: The concept of value leakag, J. Resources Conservation & Recycling. 133 (2018)
101–111.
[2] F. Yu, C. Wang, J. Wei, The System Dynamics Simulation Involving the Evolution of Recycling
and Disposal Channel on E-Waste. J. Ecological Economy. 32.6 (2016) 147-151.
[3] R. Ardi, R. Leisten, Assessing the role of informal sector in WEEE management systems: A
System Dynamics approach J. Waste Management, 57 (2015) 3-16.
[4] C. Li, F. Han, Q. Yang, Analysis of Recycling Mode and Operation Mechanism of WEEE
Network Platform Based on C2B. J Science and Technology Management Research 6 (2015)
168-174.
[5] X. Song, J. Wang, J Yang, et al, An updated review and conceptual model for optimizing WEEE
management in China from a life cycle perspective J. Frontiers of Environmental Science &
Engineering, 11.5 (2017) 3.
[6] G. Wu, L. Chen, Y. Zhang, et al, Study on E-waste Recycling Behavior Intention from the
Standard/Non-standard and Emotional/Rational Perspective J. 31.3(2017) 135-138.