Enormous opportunities also lie with e-waste. It is estimated that in 2014 the
world produced some 42 million metric tons of e-waste (discarded electrical and
electronic equipment and its parts) with North America and
Europe accounting for 8 and 12 million metric tons respectively. The materials
from e-waste include iron, copper, gold, siliver and aluminum--materials athat
could be reused, resold, salvaged, or recycled. Together, the value
of these metals is estimated to be about $52 billion. Electronics
giants like Best Buy and Samsung have provided e-waste take-back programs
over the past few years, which aim to refurbish old electronic components
and parts into new products.
For other companies interested in reducing waste, helping the environment,
and providing the sustainable lifestyles that consumers seek, here are some
first steps for building a relationship with customers that focuses on recycling
and restoring value to products:
Find partners. If you are a manufacturer who relies on outside distributors, then
retailers are the ideal partner for collecting old products. Power tool maker DeWalt
partners with companies, such as Lowes and Napa Auto Parts, to collect old tools at
their stores for recycling. The partnership benefits both sides by allowing uncon-
ventional partners (for example, two companies from two different industries) to work
together on a specific aspect of the valuse chain,like, in this example, an engine
firm with an accessory one.
Create incentives. Environmental conscientiousness isn't always enough to make customers
recycle old goods. For instance, DeWalt discovered that many contractors were holding on
to their old tools, even if they no longer worked, because they were expensive purchases
and it was hard to justify bringing them in to recycle. By offering instant discounts worth
as much as $100, DeWalt launched a trade-in program to encourage people to bring back tools.
As a result, DeWalt now reuses those materials to creat new products.
Start with a trial program, and expect to change the details as you go. Any take-back program
will likely change over time, depending on what works for your customers and company goals.
Maybe you see low customer participation at first, or conversely, so much success that the
cost of recycling becomes too high. Best Buy, for instance, has been bearing the lion's share
of e-waste volume since two of its largest competitors, Amazon and Wal-mart, do not have their own
recycling programs. Since the launch of its program, Best Buy changed its policy to add a $25
fee for recycling old televisions in order to keep the program going.
Build a culture of collective values with customers. A stronger relationship between the
retailer/producer and the consumer isn't just about financial incentives. By creating more
awareness around your efforts to reduce waste, and by developing a culture of responsibility,
repair, and reuse, you can build customer loyalty based on shared valuse and responsibilities.
These examples are just the tip of the iceberg, but they demonstrate how helping customers get
more use of their materials can transform value chains and operations. Reducing waste by incor-
porating used materials into production can cut costs and decrease the price of proceurement:
less to be procered from the outside and more to be re-utilized from the inside.
Companies play a big role in creating a circular economy, in which value is generating less from
extracting new resources and more from getting better use out of the resources we already
have--but they must also get customers engaged in the process.