Processing of discarded household refrigerators: lessons from the Dutch example

This paper deals with policies on recycling of discarded complex products, elaborated from an environmental point of view. Two principal factors cause incoherence, inconsistency and ineffectiveness in such a policy, viz. lack of knowledge of the system, and deficiency in feedback. This is reinforced by ad hoc decision making and conflicting interests. To illustrate this mechanism, a case study on refrigerator recycling policy in the Netherlands is discussed. It is demonstrated that, to increase effectiveness of policy making, a clear view of sacrifices and benefits should be available. Decision tools based on systems modelling are proposed to improve policy making.