Advantages and Disadvantages of the Experimental Design Essay Example for Free

Advantages and Disadvantages of the Experimental Design Essay Advantages and Disadvantages of the Experimental Design Advantages: * As well as controlling the independent variable the experimenter attempts to eliminate unwanted extraneous variables. * Control over extraneous variables is usually greater than in other research methods. * Experimental design involves manipulating the independent variable to observe the effect on the dependent variable. This makes it possible to determine a cause and effect relationship. Because of strict conditions and control the experimenter can set up the experiment again and repeat or ‘check’ their results. Replication is very important as when similar results are obtained this gives greater confidence in the results. Disadvantages: * Elimination of extraneous variables is not always possible. * Experimental situation may not relate to the real world. * It may be unethical or impossible to randomly assign people to groups. Eg. : Unethical to deliberately deprive children of sleep. * Impossible (expensive) to observe ‘jetlag’ by sending people on world trips. * Unethical to experiment on forms of punishment on children by subjecting them to punishment. * Advantages and Diadvantages of the Quantitative Observational Design. Advantages: * Quantitative observational designs allow variables to be investigated that would be unethical, impossible or too costly under an experimental design. Some kinds of behaviour can only be observed in a naturalistic setting. Disadvantages: * Cannot infer such a strong cause and effect relationship because there is or greater chance of other variables affecting the results. This is due to the lack of random assignment to groups. * Cannot replicate the findings as the same situation will not occur naturally again. * Quantitative Observational does not allow generalisation of findings to the general population. * Observer bias may influence the results.

Careless Human Environmental Destruction

Careless Human Environmental Destruction For many reasons the human race could be called a blessing. Great advanced in technology, medicine and even the fact we are the most sophisticated species on the planet. Are we a gift to planet Earth, or far from it? With cast amounts of pollution and destruction of the planet, not to mention unthinkable acts of violence and hate that has been going on since the beginning of time. Are we really as sophisticated and important as we have led ourselves to believe? Are we any better than any other creature because we are more technologically advanced? Is the human race a blessing? Humans have destroyed and endangered more species on our planet than any other species or group, with our continuous pollution and lack of respect for out own environment. One area of the world affected by our careless habits is our coastlines and the marine habitats that vast amounts of species rely on. These particular areas of the world are being destroyed because humans dont seem to care as long as they make a couple of dollars in the process. Oil spills like the one in the Prince William Sound on the coast of Alaska and Hawaiian sea turtles and their many troubles with humans are just some examples of human carelessness and the consequences that the environment, particularly marine wildlife incur, which often are fatal. I chose this particular subject because I find the ocean and its unique and rare inhabitants to be interesting. Every coastline has its one unique species and no two areas are the same. I wanted to learn more about how humans are destroying the habitats of these unique creatures. I found that all species are in someway being threatened by human dominance and carelessness. From the common flounder or sea star you can find when you walk across the beach to a rare fish like the coelacanth (prehistoric fish that was believed to be extinct until one was caught off the coat of Madagascar by a local commercial fisherman until in the 1950s). The ocean can be a calm and loving but can easily turn into a vicious killer within seconds. All of these things are what I find so interesting about the ocean. I wanted to find out why people can continue to destroy it even though they know the effect of their actions. I guess some people are ignorant and just dont care if they destroy the things that m ake our environment so beautiful. One example of our careless destruction of our environment is the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the coast of Alaska in 1989. The Prince William Sound still shows signs of the oil spill tem years later. Most species have recovered since the spill, but many are still suffering. The Harbor Seal and herring are just two who are vital to the survival of all the species in the area. Herring are the main source of food for many species in the area, including humans. (Mitchell, p.98) The ecosystem is gradually recovering from the spill, says Molly McCammon, an Executive director of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council, but it will never be the same as it was twenty years ago. The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council was founded to oversee the use of nine hundred million dollars to the area by the government after settling with the Exxon Company for one billion dollars in criminal and civil damages. One serious problem in the aftermath of Exxon Valdez is the decline of herring. (The tabl e shows the chave in populations of Prince William Sound before and after the Exxon Valdez spill.) Even more disturbing than the fact herring arent recovering as well as other species like them is the fact they were on the decline before the accident. This was a major issue because herring are the center of the ecosystem in the Sound. Many biologists now believe that over fishing of the herring has contributed to their decline. The Pacific Herring is just one species of the area, but if you see how important that one species is to the ecosystem of the Alaskan coast than you begin to see how important all species are to their particular habitats. This is just one example, but if you take a species out of its environment, then a chain reaction would occur, hurting the species around it. Another species that biologists are beginning to study wit the money received from the Exxon Valdez settlement is the Alaskan Salmon. The oil spill has left the Alaskan Salmon on the decline until recently, but still the species is reeling. The last two years have been extremely positive for the Alaskan Salmon population, stated one Alaskan biologists. But her concerns were more focused on the salmon offspring, which had been effected by the spill. Fry, as seen in the left vial, were damaged by the oil. The fry still come in contact with oil when oil pockets seep into some intertidal spawning streams. These pockets are like mines, says Jeffrey Short, a scientist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. Scientist discovered the oil caused genetic defects in salmon. Many species in the Prince William Sound are still recovering from the spill. This is just one spill and you can see the devastation it has made upon its ecosystem. This has been called one of the worst oil spills in his tory. But you can imagine there has been numerous spills that are almost as areas might never fully recover from the spill on their ecosystem. The devastation of an oil spill is just one of many causes of marine destruction that humans are guilty of. Many other species suffer from damaged habitats. Another example of humans destroying their environment and the unique species that live there is Hawaiian Sea turtles. The turtles are becoming endangered because of loss of habitat. The overwhelming presence of humans in the turtles habitat is making is harder for turtles to find areas where they can lay their eggs. The loss of nesting sites if hurting the reproduction of sea turtles because unpopulated beaches are becoming harder to find. Sea turtles have an affinity for certain beaches and when they cannot lay their eggs there they have to find new areas which can take time. Other reasons why the turtles are being threatened are pollution of the ocean and netting. Pollution in the form of debris is killing turtles. They can ingest the plastic debris and it makes it hard to get the nourishment needed from the food they eat. Netting is another killer of turtles. Fishing nets set out by commercial fisherman are a definite killer of sea turtles in the Hawaiian Islands. (http://www.tur tles.org/marines). Erosion of beaches also hurts the sea turtle population. The lack of beach force turtles to lay their eggs in a smaller area. When humans try to stop or reduce erosion it disturbs the turtles even more. Sea walls, canals, jetties, and sandbagging are all things that are used by humans to stop erosion, but they are hurting the turtles more than they are helping them. They need dry land in order to lay their eggs and these structures are deducing land even further. Fibropapilloma Tumors are a serious threat and are beginning to show up on turtles in Hawaii and other areas with large numbers of sea turtles. They were first seen in turtles around 1930, but it wasnt until 1980 that the tumors began to show up in epidemic proportions. The green turtles were the only known species to have the tumors, but it has recently been discovered in other turtle species. The most effected areas of the world are Hawaii, Florida, and Australia. (http://www.turtles.org/threats.htm) All of these threats to turtle population are hurting their hopes of survival. But people out to help the sea turtles such as Denise Parker who works with a marine turtle program in Honolulu, Hawaii, have worked hard and the population of marine sea turtles has actually been on the rise in recent years. The turtles population is coming up from endangered and threatened to a safe number, but that isnt far enough for many who care about the turtles. They continue to help increase the population because they know they would begin to decline again if they didnt have any help. Many groups such as the Marine Turtles Research Program and the National Marine Fisheries Service are helping to restore the turtles in Hawaii. There are also many individuals whose work with the sea turtles have helped in preserving them and their natural environment. One of these people is Ken Nichols. Nichols is a supporter of turtles and he is trying to make the people aware of the environment in the Hawaiian Is lands. He feels that the most important thing we can do is conserve the wilderness and beaches from expansion. We need to educate people about the turtles especially children. When asked about how we can save the environment and the habitat of turtles as well as other species Nichols said, This is obviously a difficult task as the human population continues to grow, which means we are constantly expanding into wild areas which support bio-diversity of all types. I believe the greatest task is education of children and more efficient use of the existing areas we are using. These two ideas, are good examples of how the human race destroys the environment around them. We continue to hurt our wildlife, but there are people out there to fight against the pollution and destruction caused by large corporations and businesses. The Endangered Species Act of 1973 has helped tremendously in the battle for survival of species like the turtles in Hawaii as well as other threatened and endangered species of out planet. (http://www.fws.gov/r9end.com). This act prohibits the further destruction or death of the species. By the Endangered Species Act, citizens of the United States are prohibited from taking an endangered or threatened species, declared by the U.S. Fish and Wilidlife Service, from its environment whether on United States soil or in its waters. Punishment if caught breaking the lwas instead in this act are as follows; 25,000 dollars if caught violating the rules listed above, 12,000 forknowingly participating in the importing or exporting of such species . Any person who otherwise violates any provision of this Act, or any regulation, permit, or certificate issued hereunder, may be assessed a civil penalty by the Secretary of not more than $500 for each such violation. (http://endangered.fws.gov/esa.html) Although this act is a great step towards the restoration of threatened and endangered species many feel the act isnt worth the money. A proposed amendment to the Endangered Species Act threatened many aspects of the project. The proposed amendment was an attempt to undermine the project of funding and political support. The amendment to section 403 of the Endangered Species Act would literally wipe out many of the endangered species protected by this bill. The sea turtles of Hawaii wouldnt stand a chance if the amendment would have passed, said supporters of the Endangered Species Act and endangered species around the world, We cant just let them take back what we have worked so hard for. Shrimp nets alone kill 55,000 turtles a year in the Hawaiian Islands. (http://www.turtles.org/threats). If the Endangered Species Act is undermined where will these endangered species turn? Some senators who support the amendments to undermine the act are back in congress for a second term and many feel the amendments to the Endangered Species Act will be brought up again and re-voted. (http://www,turtles.org/threats). Senator Slade Gorton was one supporter of the bill to undermine the Endangered Species Act. Are these accusations of inhumanity and lack of care for nature completely true about Senator Gorton? On Senator Gortons web site (http://senate.gov/~gorton), he shows his compassion for nature. A letter thanking him for his help on saving trees and several streams in his home state of Washington from the Sierra club was one such article bringing up questions of whether he was so bad. Others seem to think otherwise, but it is hard to tell without actually knowing him or all his work. Many other laws and acts have been implemented to stop the decline in population of many endangered and threatened species. One it the Marine Mammal Act, which protects the many species in our oceans. The Clean Water and Clean Air acts were also adopted to help protect these endangered species from human threats. One example of how humans have hurt many different species of animals is pesticides, especially the pesticide DDT, which was used in World War II to keep insects away from soldiers. After the war, the pesticide was brought back to the United States and used very carelessly. DDT seeped into the streams and contaminated almost every species that ate fish or other animals that had been infected with DDT. From the contaminated fish the pesticide went up the food chain and began killing off the bald eagles. After the substance DDT was nationally banned in 1973 the bald eagle has begun to make a comeback like most of the other species affected by our carelessness. (Discovery, The Bald Eagle). Just because the Bald Eagle is the symbol of our country does that mean we have more of an obligation to protect it than the sea turtles? Hopefully we will be able to stop the amendments one more time, but if they are made what will happen to the animals that depend on it? We have the obligations to protect these animals. We have placed them in this situation and it is our fault many of these species are endangered today. We cannot continue to let them slip away if we can do something about it. Many organizations are trying to keep these laws in place. Others who feel that our money should go to more worthy causes, even though we personally are responsible for the decline in many species. I think we need to support the laws that are in effect as of right now and try to get better funding for the organizations that are already in place. We dont need new laws, we need to support and help fund the ones we already have. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is one of the big organizations that helps protect the endangered species as well as helping to educate and fund other small organizations that can do their part as well. It may not be easy to get funding for programs like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but we can achieve this goal if we work hard. A good example of how we can help to preserve our endangered wildlife is we can implement a tax that will provide money to these programs. We can add a tax to companies who contribute to the destruction of our environment. For example, if a company produces pollution they should be forced to pay a tax. We can place a standard tax for all companies and corporations who do this or we can base the amount owed by the amount of pollution or amount of destruction caused by the corporation on the environment. For companies that we are unable to tell how much exactly contribute to the destruction of the environment, we can require a base sum. A starting base sum could be five hundred dollars a year for all the companies who contribute to the destroying of the Earth. We can assemble a committee of U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents to assess the amount of pollution a company produces and then a fitting cost for that pollution. It might take a little while to put this proposal into effect. If we anticipated the slow advancement of passing the law in congress it would take six or seven years to implement this law. It wouldnt take a lot of money, but definitely some money would be required. It would take several thousand to advertise if it wasnt donated by a company who felt strongly about the issue at hand. I would think an estimate of about $500,00-60,000 dollars would easily cover the expenses of advertising, salaries for workers and any other expenses. Donations and fundraisers would be used to accumulate enough money to get the support of the people. When I discussed my proposal with my friend, she felt that it was a good idea and that the organizations like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service need the money to study and set up programs to save endangered species and these programs need money. She felt it would be hard to get the bill passed because congressmen have ties with big corporations that pollute and they wouldnt have to pay fees. So most likely the proposal would be stopped. Although she didnt see the bill being passed she said that if we accumulate enough money to advertise and get the support of the people, congressmen would be forced to vote for the bill or they might not be reelected. If she has strong feelings about this subject, Im sure the majority of this society is concerned about the environment and about our future. We need to try and get funds for programs and organizations that help endangered and threatened species. Many organizations rely on donations and money from supporters. We need to find ways to get more money for these programs and the proposal of taxes on companies who pollute is just one possibility. Everyone contributes to the destruction of the environment and we all have to do our part to help the species we are killing off. Species like the Pacific Salmon, who were threatened by the Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989. As well as other species like the sea turtles in Hawaii who were on the verge of extinction until a recent turn around because of help from organizations and individuals. Individuals who take the burden upon their shoulders and make it their business to make up for all the people who could care less what happens to their environment. We need to protect our environment form the people who seek to destroy it for money and success. I think the beauty of the ocean is worth saving. Every creature and every unique species is a creature worth saving. We dont have the right to kill those who arent as smart or sophisticated as us. They have just as mush right to the Earth as we do. We dont have the right to over fish herring in Alaska or cut down all the trees in rain forest s just for money and the profit these resources create.

Quantitative Research in Health, Safety, and Environment

Quantitative Research in Health, Safety, and Environment Casey Bird Abstract In this article, quantitative research in the health, safety, and environmental (HSE) field will be discussed. The primary quantitative tool utilized is the safety committee. With the safety committee, direct communication lines with management on issues in the field can be achieved. Quantitative research provides the ability to understand other peoples safety needs or perceptions (Austin Sutton, 2014). It allows an organization to become a safety-first culture. In order to achieve this type of culture the organization needs to be aware of needed enhancements. This is why quantitative safety research is vital to an organization. This paper will discuss the methods utilized for quantitative research, and how the effectiveness is measured in that research. MGs safety committee will be utilized to reflect other quantitative tools. This includes Stop Work Authority (SWA), Core Values policy, and regular HSE meetings. This paper will also inform the reader on the importance of quantitati ve research to enhance any organizational programs. Quantitative Research in Health, Safety, and Environment (HSE) A vital primary tool utilized in the health, safety, and environmental (HSE) field is the safety committee. The committee is required to provide input on incidents, recommendations, and better practices to enhance the overall organization (Kellerman, 2012). A safety committee is one way that management and frontline employees can disseminate share knowledge opinions. This sharing of information can be vital as there are different levels of insight from the employees on this committee. By having different levels of insight, an organization is able to grow and expand. The safety committee is also utilized in workplace inspections to provide insight as well as to increase production levels. A supervisor is may be busy supervising employees and production levels which could compromise safety. With a designated committee performing safety inspections, it allows the supervisors to fully perform tasks safely. A safety committee is also paramount as another tool for quantitative research. Quantitative research is a systematic process that examines relationships and interactions (Burns Grove, 2005). In order to be more proactive towards accident prevention, an organization should work towards becoming a safety-first culture. In becoming a safety-first company, an organization should initially understand the needs of the employees. This can be accomplished by utilizing questionnaires. Every safety committee member is given a questionnaire at the beginning, middle, and end of the time served on the committee. It is required each member serve a tenue of one year on the committee. So each questionnaire provides a starting point to understand individual views and on-going needs for the organization. Questionnaire results could show other immediate needs of an organization, such as more support from management.  Ãƒâ€šÃ‚   It also reveals various best practices to utilize in specific opera tions that keep people safe, and increase profit margins. These best practices allow for a much higher successful implementation rate, due to employee buy-in. With safety committee providing quantitative research to the organization, it truly provides direct money-saving tasks to an organization (Kellerman, 2012). In addition to the safety committee, all employees are issued Stop Work Authority (SWA). A SWA gives any employee the right and obligation to stop any unsafe tasks or condition. As cited in Morrison (2015), if employees utilized SWA every time an issue arises, majority of incidents and fatalities would be eliminated. However, a gap commonly seen in SWA is employees do not utilize it as often due to fear of retribution from the employer (Morrison, 2015).   To overcome this issue, MG Resins has implemented a Core Value policy. MG Resins is a polymer production plant that is under construction. The Core Value policy defines employee roles and responsibilities, including the safety committee. It outlines that all employees have the right and obligation to utilize a SWA for any individual or group tasks without any retribution. If any retaliation occurs, it should be reported to management immediately. In order to effectively and efficiently close any gaps involving HSE issues, management holds regularly scheduled meetings with employees. These meetings include weekly, monthly, and quarterly held review meetings with employees. During these meeting with management top HSE issues are presented and discussed with employees. Employees are constantly encouraged to engage in the discussion. With employees feeling that their insight is needed and approved, the more proactive effects an organization will achieve. This increase in employee involvement also increases employees morale to work in a safe, healthy, and environmentally friendly workplace. MG Resins has greatly improved since implementation of these quantitative research tools. With these quantitative methods of the SWA, Core Value policy, and regular HSE meetings more employees are freely voicing opinions and reporting incidents. There were zero recordable injuries, zero environmental spills, and only two first-aid cases this year to date. Management has also fully supported and embraced proactive solutions to reduce and eliminate future incidents. With this quantitative involvement, management is now able to effectively document and understand HSE issues directly via employees. With more proactive employee involvement, the more likelihood the organizations goals and visions should be achieved. As a matter of fact, one employees quantitative feedback allowed MG to increase production rates by eliminating human involvement and establishing robotics. One production line required employees to physically bag and tie-off the final product. To complete only one order could take up to four hours. During an HSE meeting this topic was brought up not only for safety reasons, but for production as well. This proactive action of implementing robotics allowed employees to perform other critical tasks, while the robotics completed this one lengthy task. In my opinion, as a safety professional, quantitative research is a required necessity to improve any organization. The future use of quantitative research is solidified in the MG organization as well as in the HSE field. Without quantitative research employers and safety professionals would not be able to be as proactive in their programs. The future of quantitative research should include researching newer technologies. The newer generations are becoming more tech-savvy, and this may be an opportunity to get in-touch with a bigger audience. The more input an organization can receive, the greater the potential for the organization to succeed. Management needs to grasp this opportunity to support the employees and customers in order to enhance the organization. However, a roadblock with many safety professionals is the ability to convince upper management that quantitative research is vital in supporting production operations. It is my opinion, that at times, management disregards safety at employees detriment and well-being. It is only when a tragedy happens, that management will then seek out safety. A good safety professional must find common ground for proving to management that quantitative research and production go hand-in-hand. Before tragedies occur, it is my opinion, that implementing a quantitative safety program can be an asset for any organization. Any organization, including MG, would do well in finding a balance between implementing quantitative safety and production. When all levels of management and employees equally understand that no safety will be sacrificed for production, it is then that the companys goals will be achieved. References Austin Z. Sutton J. (2014). Qualitative research: getting started.Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4275140/ Burns N., Grove S.K. (2005). The practice of nursing research: conduct, critique, and utilization. Retrieved from http://www.health.herts.ac.uk/immunology/Web%20programme%20-%20Researchhealthprofessionals/definition_of_quantitative_resea.htm Kellerman M. (2012). Safety committees: Just hype or do they really benefit a company.Retrieved from http://www.usfsafetyflorida.com/Resources/Consultant-s-Corner/Safety-Committees-Just-Hype-or-Do-They-Really-Benefit-a-Company Morrison K. (2015). Stop-work authority: Empowering workers to halt a dangerous situation can help prevent injuries, experts say. Retrieved from http://www.safetyandhealthmagazine.com/articles/12346-stop-work-authority

Modernist Poets E.E. Cummings, Wallace Stevens, and T.S. Eliot Change t

Modernist Poets E.E. Cummings, Wallace Stevens, and T.S. Eliot Change the Face of American Poetry Modernist poets such as E.E. Cummings, Wallace Stevens, and T.S. Eliot changed the face of American poetry by destroying the notion that American culture is far inferior to European culture. These and other American poets accomplished the feat of defining an American poetic style in the Modern Era by means of a truly American idea. That idea is the melting pot. Just as American culture exists as a mixture of races, beliefs, and ideas, the new American style of poetry exists as a mixture of old English styles with a new concept of the international style. Modern poets experiment with language, theme, and convention to "cleanse language and culture of old and worn-out meanings, and introduce to poetry what is American in thought, sensibility, perception, observation, and diction [. . .]. [T]hey become exemplary of the modern endeavors of consciousness itself" (McQuade 1241). An important event that caused so many Modernist American poets to invoke the international style was the "expatriate immigration." Many American writers, artists, and musicians left for Europe, looking for new inspiration and fresh starts. Among those emigrating were Eliot, Pound, Hughes, Cummings, and Frost. Once in Europe, there writers were exposed to the new avant-garde art and poetry taking place there. At this time, the writers began to draw inspiration from and to imitate European writers. T. S. Eliot began to imitate the topics and tones of the French poets Charles Bauldelaire and Jules LaForgue, the latter for his bourgeoisie satire. Eliot's poetry written while in Europe displayed a satire that was foreign to American readers. Such is seen in "Th... ...ty at the time-to escape the expectations of a system which no longer works, to break free from the oppression of the social rank-and-file, and to gain true personal freedom. Works Cited Cummings, E.E. "[in Just-]." McQuade, et al. 2: 1419. -. "[she being brand]." McQuade, et al. 2: 1421. -. "[the Cambridge ladies who live in furnished souls]." McQuade, et al. 2: 1420. McQuade, Donald, et al. Ed. The Harper American Literature. 2nd ed. 2 vols. New York: HarperCollins, 1993. -. "The Literature of Modernism: Poetry 1912-1940." McQuade et al. 2: 1233-1242. Stevens, Wallace. " Anecdote of the Jar." McQuade, et al. 2: 1279. -. "The Plain Sense of Things." McQuade, et al. 2: 1286. Williams, William Carlos. "To Elsie." McQuade, et al. 2: 1304.

Muhammad Ali :: essays research papers

The name Muhammad Ali needs no introduction in the sports industry. This man is a living legend. Ali has accomplished my achievements during an era when African-Americas weren’t allowed any opportunities. The career of Cassius Clay began at the age of twelve. After his brand new bike had been stolen at the Louisville Home Show. He wanted to â€Å"whoop† the thieves so badly that he began to take boxing lessons. His first victory was a three round, three-minute split decision match. As he became more dedicated to boxing, Clay advanced to winning six Kentucky Golden Gloves Championships, two National Golden Glove tournaments and two National AAU titles. He won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. The career highlight for Cassius Clay was being titled heavyweight champion after his defeating Sonny Liston. Ali contributes to variety of charities and services. â€Å" I am devoting much of his life today healing the human spirit. My chosen path for doing this is my religion. â€Å" quoted Muhammad. He is creating the Muhammad Ali center in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. The ultimate goal of the Muhammad Ali center is to inspire everyone everywhere to be the best they can be. It has been a dream of Ali to create a place to share, teach and inspire people to be their best and pursue their dreams. He also lends his name and presence to hunger and poverty relief and supporting education efforts of all kinds. In addition, he promotes adoption and encouraging people to love one another. Once such a turbulent man, Muhammad Ali now has a more peaceful and religious view of life. Religion has taught him that God wants us all to love each other and that love, not hate, is at the heart of God’s master plan. â€Å" When I was young, I was a professional boxer. But that’s not my â€Å"field† anymore. My most important job now is trying to teach people to treat each other with dignity and respect.

Ancient Egypt vs. Mesopotamia Essay

The Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies are two of the oldest civilizations in the history of the world. The Egyptian and Mesopotamian political, social, and cultural parts of their lives developed differently, but there is a similar basis between the two. Although they had similar political systems in that they both were ruled by kings, the way they viewed their kings and the way that they both constructed their power differed. Both civilizations constructed their social classes similarly in that they had kings at the top, followed by other officials and merchants, and at the bottom the slaves and peasants. They both had their own form of writing; Mesopotamia had cuneiform, and Egypt had hieroglyphics and cursive script, respectively. While they are similar in many different political, social, and cultural activities and ideas, they have enough contrast to be viewed as different societies. Politically, because they were geographically open to envision, Mesopotamia culture created compact self-governing political units- the city-states. By the third millennium B.C.E. the concept of king (lugal) developed, quite possibly because of increased quarrels over resources. The power of religious leaders decreased as the power of kings increased. And although the kings took over control of temples, Mesopotamian kings did not claim divine power. Political changes occurred in Mesopotania because of the succession of people that followed the initial Sumerian people, like the Akkadians, the Kassites Medes and Persians who established their temporary political dominance. By 1750 B. C. E., the written law code of King Hammurabi, was used to maintain political authority and continuity.In sharp contrast is the continuity of political history in ancient Egypt. Legendary King Menes united Upper and Lower Egypt into one nation that lasted with continuity of culture from 3,100-1070 B. C. E. with thirty dynasties. Unlike Mesopotamian kings, the Egyptian king was represented as Horus and as the son of Re, and fit into the pattern of the dead returning to life and the climatic renewing life of the sun-god. As Egypt’s chief priest, he intervened with the gods on behalf of his people and land. No written law code was developed in Egypt. The pharaoh governed the country through a large efficient bureaucracy. In highly urbanized Mesopotamia, specialization of function, centralization of power, and use of written records enabled certain groups to amass unprecedented wealth. Women could own property, maintain control of their dowry, and even engage in trade but men monopolized political life. Some women worked outside the home in textile factories, breweries or as prostitutes, tavern keepers, bakers, or fortune tellers. Inside the home women grew wove baskets, had vegetable gardens, cooked, cleaned, and fetched water. For the most part, their writings reflect *elite male activities. Temple leaders and the kings controlled large agricultural estates, and the palace administration collected taxes from subjects. The lowest class of people tended the fields and used their strength in the off-season to build large public works like ziggarets. Women were subordination to men and had no property rights. In Mesopotamia by the second millennium B. C. E. merchants had gained in status and in power th rough gilds. In the Old Babylonian period, the class of people who were not dependent on the temple or palace grew, the amount of land and other property in private hands increased, and free laborers became more common. The Mesopotamian civilization had 3 social classes: 1. free landowning class- royalty, high-ranking officials, warriors, priests, merchants, and some artisans and shopkeepers; 2. the class of dependent farmers and artisans, whose legal attachment to royal or temple, or private estates made them the primary rural work force; and 3. the class of slaves, primarily used in domestic service. Egyptian class structure was less defined and more pyramid in shape. Compared to Mesopotamia, a far larger percentage of the Egyptian population lived in farming villages and Egypt’s wealth derived from a higher degree from cultivating the land. When not need for agriculture the peasants labored to build the tombs of the pharaoh. Slavery existed on a limited scale and was of limited economic significance. In contrast to Mesopotamia, Egyptian merchants had a low social status. For women subordination to men is evident but they are represented with dignity and affection in tomb paintings. Legal documents show that Egyptian women could own property, inherit from their parents, and will their property to whomever they wished. Marriage, usually monogamous, arose from a couple’s decision to establish a household together rather than for legal or religious ceremony. Both parties could dissolve the relationship, and women retained rights over her dowry in case of divorce. In ge neral, the limited evidence suggests that women in ancient Egypt enjoyed greater respect and more legal rights and social freedom than women in Mesopotamia and other ancient societies. Despite some initial inspiration, Egyptian culture separated itself from Mesopotamia in a number of ways beyond politics and monument building. The Egyptians did not take to the Sumerian cuneiform alphabet and developed a hieroglyphic alphabet instead. Hieroglyphics, though more pictorial than Sumerian cuneiform, were based on simplified pictures of objects abstracted to represent concepts or sounds. As in Mesopotamia the writing system was complex, and its use was, for the most part, monopolized by the powerful priestly caste. Heiroglyphics were written on papyrus paper while cuneiform was written on clay tablets with a blunt reed called a stylus. Like Egyptian hieroglyphs, cuneiform was written in both rows and columns although cuneiform was only written from left to right. The Egyptian and Mesopotamian societies were very similar in many aspects of their lives. They both developed two of the earliest forms of writing in hieroglyphics and cuneiform, with both forms differing greatly from each other. They also contained strikingly similar social classes and structures, as with many other civilizations. They were both ruled by â€Å"kings†, but many parts of their political system were drastically different due to the way that they were constructed and administered. Egyptian civilization and a fundamental Mesopotamian culture lasted far longer than the civilizations that came later, in part because of relative isolation within each respective region and because of the deliberate effort to maintain what had been achieved, rather than experiment widely.

Producer Responsibility Scheme To Regulate Electronic Waste Environmental Sciences Essay

To reexamine and analysis the execution of the manufacturer duty strategy in South Korea, Sweden and United States ( Maine ) , for doing recommendations for the future acceptance of manufacturer duty strategy in Hong Kong on e-waste direction. Abstraction Hong Kong is good known as the hub of the newest engineering and electronic merchandises. While many Hong Kong people are fascinated by the latest theoretical accounts of nomadic phones, computing machines and advanced engineerings, the direction of electrical and electronic waste ( e-waste ) in Hong Kong is under-developed and this may take to risky impacts on the environment. Producer duty strategy ( PRS ) , besides known as drawn-out manufacturer duty ( EPR ) has been established for the direction of e-waste in assorted states for old ages. At the terminal of April, 2010, the Hong Kong authorities finished the audience on PRS for e-waste direction. A new legal model will be introduced to turn to the job of e-waste disposal in 2011. In this thesis, the current state of affairs of e-waste direction in Hong Kong will be reviewed. it is so followed by an analysis on the feasibleness of the 2010 PRS audience papers. To instil treatment, I will besides compare and contrast the e-waste P RS in Sweden, South Korea and United States ( Maine ) . Based on the international reappraisal, Hong Kong can larn from the strengths and failings of different strategies and do mentions for the hereafter patterns on e-waste direction. Introduction What is e-waste? Internationally, there is no standard definition of WEEE/ E-waste. Different states use their ain definitions and readings of the term â€Å" E-waste/WEEE † . ( UNEP, 2007 ) . In this thesis, e-waste means electronic and electrical waste. E-waste is by and large defined as any cast-off, excess or broken electrical or electronic device which is dependent on electrical currents or electromagnetic Fieldss in order to work decently and equipment for the coevals, transportation and measuring of such current. ( Environment Bureau, 2010 ) . It includes different types of equipments such as family contraptions, IT and telecommunications equipment. E-waste contains a batch of contaminations such as heavy metals e.g lead ( Pb ) , quicksilver ( Hg ) etc. and brominated fire retardents. Cathode Ray Tubes ( CRTs ) in proctors contain Pb may take to dirty. Lead will stamp down the encephalon development of kids. Toxic quicksilver may roll up in the fat of fish and through nutrient concatenation will be intake by homo. ( Greenpeace, 2010 ) Without proper disposal and direction, these chemicals would be released to the environment doing serious wellness jobs to human and damage the environment. Therefore, proper direction of e-waste is indispensable. 1.2 Definition of manufacturer duty strategy and extended manufacturer duty Producer duty strategy is an environmental policy instruments for commanding disposal of merchandises when they at the terminal of life. ( Hester & A ; Harrison, 2009 ) It suggests that everyone should portion the duty on e-waste direction. Manufacturers and consumers need to be responsible for the merchandises from the design to the concluding disposal intervention. ( Environmental Protection Department, 2005 ) Furthermore, it mandates the return dorsum of e-waste to a proper intervention. PRS has been implemented for pull offing e-waste in many states including Japan, Switzerland for old ages. It showed positive consequence for handling of EOL e-waste. PRS has two types: corporate manufacturer duty and single manufacturer duty. In CPR, manufacturers are responsible for the cost based on market portion. They need to pay the cost proportionally. In IPR, each manufacturer is responsible for financing the operations referred to the waste from his ain merchandises. ( Hester & A ; Harris on, 2009 ) In other states, extended manufacturer duty ( EPR ) is a more popular term. EPR farther emphasizes on the manufacturer ‘s duty. In other words, â€Å" Extended Producer Responsibility is the construct that makers and importers of merchandises bear a grade of duty for the environmental impacts of their merchandises throughout the merchandises ‘ life-cycles, including upstream impacts built-in in the choice of stuffs for the merchandises, impacts from makers ‘ production procedure itself, and downstream impacts from the usage and disposal of the merchandises. Manufacturers accept their duty when they design their merchandises to minimise the life-cycle environmental impacts and when they accept legal, physical or economic duty for the environmental impacts that can non be eliminated by design. † ( Davis, 1994 ) There are two purposes for the PRS. First, it emphasizes the duty of manufacturer for the collection and recycling of the e-waste. Second, it encourages manufacturers to modify the design of merchandises. So, it could cut down the sum waste and risky effects. ( The Sierra Club, 2009 ) E-waste state of affairs in Hong Kong The volume of e-waste coevals has increased at a rate of 2 % yearly during 2005-2008. In 2008, about 71400 metric tons of e-waste was generated. Presently, approximately 80 % of e-waste are recycled and re-used in Hong Kong or other states. The staying 20 % of them are disposal. Landfill sites in Hong Kong are about making their maximal capacities. The 20 % of e-waste so is a resource that should be reused, recycled. ( Environment Bureau, 2010 ) In general, e-waste is collected by private second-hand traders. Majority of e-waste are exported to other developing states such as Mainland China and India for recycling or recycling ( Greenpeace, 2010 ) . However, many storage countries for e-waste are non regulated. It would do dirt taint from leaching of heavy metals and other toxic chemicals. ( Environment Bureau, 2010 ) Besides, an e-waste recycling programme was launched in September 2005 by Environmental Protection Department and St James ‘ Settlement. They accept the e-waste from the populace at designated aggregation points. The gathered e-waste is brought to the recycling Centre for mending or leveling. The repaired electronic contraptions are donated to the needy. Sometimes the repaired goods are sold in charitable bazar to counterbalance portion of the operating cost. ( Environmental Protection Department, 2010 ) However, this programme can non cover with e-waste job in Hong Kong. Therefore, a proper e-waste direction policy is needed. Reappraisal on the audience paper At the terminal of April 2010, the Hong Kong authorities finished the audience on PRS for e-waste direction. A new legal model will be introduced to turn to the job of e-waste disposal. Harmonizing to the Product Eco-responsibility Ordinance ( Cap 603 ) , the proposed e-waste strategy would cover bulky electrical and electronic equipment including telecasting sets, rinsing machines, iceboxs and air-conditioners, and computing machines merchandises ( TWRAC ) , for illustration personal computing machine, pressmans and laptop. ( Environment Bureau, 2010 ) Figure 1-1 The proposed e-waste strategy in Hong Kong ( Adopted from Environmental Bureau, 2010 ) The proposed e-waste strategy is summarized in Figure 1. The major aim is to portion the duty for the aggregation, intervention and disposal cost of e-waste in a safely and sustainably manner. The duty is shared by assorted stakeholders: Consumers would necessitate to lend the collection and handling costs of regulate e-waste when purchasing new regulated merchandises. They besides need to guarantee the regulated e-waste would be handled likely. They may set up the handling to a municipal aggregation installation, a second-hand trader or a charitable organisation. Importers, distributers and retail merchants would necessitate to stick on the regulated merchandises with specific labels, including the costs of e-waste strategy and charging system Retailers would take back the old electrical contraptions on a â€Å" new for old † footing without charges. They will besides dispose decently to the appointed WMC. The appointed WEEE Management Contractor would supply aggregation and recycling service for e-waste. Second-hand traders and recyclers would dispose the regulated e-waste that collected from consumers. They are regulated by the import and export control and licensing demand for recycling, hive awaying and leveling of e-waste. Government would move as a proctor to reexamine the system, roll uping fees and jurisprudence enforcement. It would besides advance public credence and instruction and help the settling up of the manufacturer duty strategy on e-waste. ( Environment Bureau, 2010 ) Collection of fees would be taken by importers and distributers. They would pay the fees when the regulated merchandises were brought to Hong Kong for local sale. This cost could finally be recovered along the supply concatenation. Another option is retail merchants would roll up the fee from consumers when sale the relevant merchandises when a dealing is completed. The fees for little e-waste ( such as a little telecasting ) would about $ 100. For bulky e-waste would bear down around $ 200- $ 250. Fees for computing machine merchandises would be lower but no clear sum is listed in the audience paper. ( Environment Bureau, 2010 ) There are some extra steps proposed: A landfill disposal prohibition to e-waste will be introduced for forestalling utile stuffs ended up in landfills. Import and export control of e-waste would be under a permission system by authorities. A licensing demand is needed for the e-waste dismantlement, recycling and storage. ( Environment Bureau, 2010 ) In the undermentioned thesis, the PRS plans of South Korea, Sweden and United States ( Maine ) will be studied. By utilizing three standards, physical duty of assorted stakeholders ( Consumers, local governments, manufacturers and consolidators ) , cost allotment of assorted stakeholders ( Consumers, local governments, manufacturers ) and roll uping and recycling rate, remarks are made for the hereafter pattern on e-waste direction in Hong Kong.2. Review of PRS plans in other states2.1 South Korea 2.1.1 Background of the PRS After fall ining the OECD in 1996, the environmental policy of South Korea authorities is influenced by the way of western states. In 2001, the authorities implemented EPR as an indispensable policy in the field of recycling. ( Murakami-Suzuki, 2008 ) On the other manus, consumers and environmental NGOs had criticized the improper disposal of e-waste by the three major companies. To salvage their trade name image, they had understanding with authorities to continue greater manufacturer duty. ( Lee & A ; Na, 2010 ) In 2003, a Producer Recycling ( PR ) system was launched which emphasized the duty of makers in e-waste recycling. Until now, there are in entire 10 points: they are rinsing machines, TVs, air conditioners, iceboxs, Personal computers, sound, nomadic phones, pressmans, duplicators and facsimiles. ( Lee & A ; Na, 2010 ) ( Murakami-Suzuki & A ; Chung 2008 ) 2.1.2 System of e-waste direction Figure 2-1 General e-waste flows in South Korea ( Adopted from Murakami-Suzuki & A ; Chung 2008 ) The PR system puts the speech pattern on manufacturers. Manufacturers need to roll up the e-waste from consumers on a ‘new-for-old ‘ footing. Each electrical contraption that is regulated in the system has certain mark recycling rate to accomplish yearly. Therefore, manufacturers used runs and other aggregation contractors to run into the recycling mark. ( Lee & A ; Na, 2010 ) There are three ways for the manufacturers to carry through their duty. First, they can construct ain recycling works and execute the recycling occupation. The 2nd manner is to contract out the occupation to commercial recycling workss. The 3rd manner is to pay money to the Producer Responsibility Organization to assist them recycling the e-waste. If they fail to make the recycling marks, they need to pay the fee which is reciprocally relative to the compulsory recycling rates. ( Murakami-Suzuki & A ; Chung 2008 ) Local governments are responsible for patroling illegal dumping of e-waste. Illegal dumping declined greatly due to the monitoring of the citizens groups called â€Å" ssu-parazzi † ( ssu means rubbish in Korean and parazzi from the Italian word â€Å" paparazzi † which means newsman ) . ( Lee & A ; Na, 2010 ) Local governments will pay pecuniary wagess to citizens for describing illegal dumping instances to the governments. Government besides needs to roll up the e-waste which is non based on replacement purchase from consumer. ( Lee & A ; Na, 2010 ) Consumers have three ways for disposal of e-waste. First, they can give the e-waste to the 2nd manus traders. The second-hand traders will give back some bit value to the consumers. The second-hand traders will so reassign to the exporters and export out the e-waste. Second, they can pay to the municipalities which are local governments for roll uping the e-waste. The local governments will transport the e-waste to the exporters or recycling workss for the intervention of e-waste. Third, they do n't necessitate to pay any fee when on a ‘new for old ‘ footing. The retail merchants or manufacturers will roll up the e-waste for free. They act as a co-operator with other stakeholders to take part in the strategy. Some of them may move as the â€Å" ssu-parazzi † to supervise the illegal dumping of e-waste. 2.1.3 Cost borne by different stakeholders Manufacturers bear the entire cost for both aggregation and recycling. First, they can run their ain logistic squad and recycling workss. Second, they can pay fee to the commercial recycling companies. Third, they may pay the fee to the Producer Responsibility Organization ( PRO ) for roll uping and recycling the e-waste. Consumers do non necessitate to pay any disposal fee when buying a replacing regulated electric merchandise. So, an unseeable fee is added when consumer purchases electrical merchandises. They merely need to pay the aggregation cost when necessitating local governments to roll up the e-waste. They may necessitate to pay 2000-8000 won ( about HKD $ 14- $ 56 ) to the local governments for roll uping the e-waste. ( Gangnam-gu Office, 2004 ) Government needs to bear the fiscal cost for the collection of illegal dumped e-waste and pay the money wages for citizens. ( Lee & A ; Na, 2010 ) 2.1.4 Collecting and Recycling rate of e-waste Figure 2-2 Collecting and Recycling rate of e-waste in South Korea in 2002 and 2004 ( Source from Park, 2006 ) After the execution of the PR system in 2003, the collection and recycling rate addition about 50 % in Television, icebox and rinsing machine. For air-conditioner and computing machine, a singular rise in the collection and recycling rate. The merchandise recycling has been continuously increased. About six million dozenss ( 550 million kilogram ) of e-waste in sum has been recycled during 2003-2007. The recycling rate is about 11 kg/capita/year in 2003-2007. ( Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea, 2010 ) 2.2 Sweden 2.2.1 Background of the PRS The PRS for e-waste was launched in Sweden on 1st July 2001. Simultaneously, a not-for-profit service supplier El Kretsen was set up. El Kretsen operates a national-wide aggregation and recycling system for e-waste. It runs the system in coaction with Swedish governments. The local Swedish governments manage and fund the aggregation points where the families could go forth the e-waste. El Kresten manages and financess the transit fee, the pre-treatment and recycling for e-waste. Eleven classs of e-waste are regulated by El Kretsen. They include merchandises for family contraptions, IT and other equipment. ( El-Kretsen, 2010 ) 2.2.2 System of e-waste direction Figure 2-3 General flow of e-waste in Sweden ( Future Energy Solutions, 2003 ) The strategy does non put any recycling marks. Manufacturers and distributers pay the fee to El Kresten, based on the current market portion, for pull offing the regulated e-waste in a corporate duty method. The cost will reexamine yearly. Families can return the e-waste to any of the 700 countrywide municipal aggregation sites. Commercial sectors can return the e-waste free of charge to the distributers or manufacturers based on â€Å" new for old † buying. Otherwise they can give to the commercial aggregation Centres which are financed by El Kretsen. When the commercial consumer does non buy a new merchandise, the e-waste is non covered by this PRS and it ‘s the last user ‘s duty. Municipal aggregation sites are run by municipalities and the concern aggregation sites are organized and financed by El Kretsen. Logistic and transport spouses will roll up the e-waste from both municipal and concern aggregation sites and conveyance to the intervention spouses. Treatme nt and recycling spouses dismantle and recycle the e-waste. El Kretsen would pay the money to logistics and intervention spouses by the weight of e-waste hauled and the existent intervention costs. ( Future Energy Solutions, 2003 ) 2.2.3 Cost borne by different stakeholders El Kretsen financess the concern aggregation sites, transit and recycling cost of e-waste. Household ‘s aggregation sites are run by local governments which are non based on manufacturer duty. Households wage revenue enhancements to back up the cost of runing the municipal aggregation sites. Manufacturers pay money to El Kretsen harmonizing to their corresponding market portion, i.e. , every provider ‘s proportion of entire gross revenues in the old twelvemonth. Any excess will be credited to the corresponding manufacturer ‘s history. ( Future Energy Solutions, 2003 ) The fee is considered several factors. Here is an illustration: Table 2-1 Model for computation of fees by El Kretsen ( Future Energy Solutions, 2003 ) The fee is measured by four factors: weight, return rate, intervention cost and material value. When transit and intervention costs are high and the stuff value is low, the fee is higher. Alternatively, if the stuff value is high and the intervention cost is low, the fee is much lower. Normally, for bulky material, the fee is around a‚ ¬8- 26 ( about HKD $ 84 – $ 273 ) and for little contraption, it is about a‚ ¬0.025. ( Future Energy Solutions, 2003 ) 2.2.4 Collecting and recycling rate of e-waste Figure 2-4 Recycling rate of e-waste in 2004-2008 by El Kretsen ( El-Kretsen, 2010 ) The above figure showed the collection and recycling rate of e-waste from all the aggregation points by El Kretsen. The system in Sweden achieved the highest collection and recycling rate reported in Europe with a sum of 15.8kg/capita/year in 2006. ( Sander et el. , 2007 ) 2.3 United States ( Maine ) 2.3.1 Background of PRS In 2004, an e-waste jurisprudence founded on EPR construct was adopted by the Maine legislative assembly. It was the first â€Å" drawn-out manufacturer duty † jurisprudence in United States. In January 18 2006, the family e-waste programme was launched to guarantee electrical contraptions were recycled at the terminal of life. Merely family generated covered electrical devices ( CED ) are considered in the Maine programme. CED referred to telecastings and computing machine proctors with screens larger than 4 in. ( 10.2 centimeter ) . ( Wagner, 2009 ) In 2009, the programme added desktop pressmans, game consoles and digital image frame as CED. ( Department of Environmental Protection, State of Maine, 2010 ) 2.3.2 System of e-waste direction Figure 2-5 General flow of e-waste in Maine ( Department of Environmental Protection, State of Maine, 2010 ) Local governments decide how to roll up the family e-waste. There are different ways to roll up the e-waste: agreement of pick-up service, set up for aggregation sites, or keep periodic one-day aggregation. Consolidators received the e-waste. They need to screen the regulated merchandises by trade name names and step the weight. Then, they send bills to the makers for the transit, managing and recycling fee. They will besides supply informations and study to Department of Environmental Protection ( DEP ) . After that they send the e-waste to recycler. Retailers must merely sell the regulated merchandises with makers that are in conformity with Maine ‘s E-waste Law. Maine DEP monitors the programme. It besides conducts instruction and enforces Torahs. ( Department of Environmental Protection, State of Maine, 2010 ) 2.3.3 Cost borne by different stakeholders Manufacturers bear about all the cost under the EPR programme. Before the programme started, there was no charge to the manufacturer. After the programme was launched, in 2006 and 2007, the sum charges are US $ 764000 ( about 6 million HKD $ and US $ 1938500 ( about 15 million HKD $ ) severally. The mean recycling charges were about US $ 9.53 ( HKD $ 74 ) per computing machine proctor and US $ 16.62 ( HKD $ 130 ) per telecasting. The manufacturers need to pay the cost harmonizing to the trade name and weight to the consolidators. Orphan CEDs is waste which can non place the makers or the makers are no longer in concern. Existing manufacturers need to pay a pro rata portion of the recycling orphan CEDs. ( Wagner, 2009 ) Figure 2-6 Maine population and family EOL fees charged in 2008 ( Wagner, 2009 ) Different metropoliss or towns in Maine have different EOL fee. Citizens can dispose free of charge or even necessitate to pay over USD $ 11 per point ( HKD $ 86 ) . However, over 50 % of families need to pay less than US $ 5 ( HKD $ 39 ) per point due to the displacement of cost to the manufacturers. ( Wagner, 2009 ) 2.3.4 Collecting and Recycling rate of e-waste Figure 2-7 Household CED points collected in Maine in 2005-2008 ( Source from Wagner, 2009 ) The figure of points collected and recycled after the EPR programme adopted addition by 108 % in the first twelvemonth, 170 % in the 2nd twelvemonth and 221 % in the 3rd twelvemonth. ( Wagner, 2009 ) The collection and recycling rate is about 1.8 kg/capita/year in 2008. ( Department of Environmental Protection, State of Maine, 2010 )3 Comparison of the EPR systems in South Korea, Sweden and United States ( Maine )Table 3-1 Comparison for the physical function of assorted stakeholders South Korea Sverige Pine tree state Consumers Dispose the e-waste via three methods Act as â€Å" suu-parazzi † Take the e-waste to aggregation sites Take the e-waste to the local governments via different methods Local governments Set mark recycling rate Monetary wages to citizens who describing illegal dumping Run the municipal aggregation sites Set criterion for aggregation Ensure fight among the consolidators Manufacturers Construct ain recycling workss Pay money to the PRO for recycling and interventions Contract out the occupations to commercial recycling companies Collect commercial e-waste Pay money to El Kretsen for managing the e-waste Pay money to the consolidators for all the transit and intervention cost Consolidators Manufacturers El Kresten Approximately 10 companies In South Korea, since the electrical contraption industry is oligopolistic and is dominated by three companies, viz. , Daewoo, LG and Samsung. Collection, transit and recycling are besides carried by the manufacturers. ( Lee & A ; Na, 2010 ) There is no aggregation sites are operated in the system of South Korea. Consumers have different methods to dispose the e-waste. Due to the bit value given by the second-hand traders, most of the consumers prefer this manner to dispose the e-waste. ( Murakami-Suzuki & A ; Chung 2008 ) Another alone system is the outgrowth of â€Å" ssuparazzi † in South Korea. Local governments will give money wagess to the citizen who reports illegal dumping of e-waste. This control method is thought to be responsible for a crisp diminution of illegal dumping. For Sweden, the lone consolidator El Kretsen takes the most physical duty in the EPR system. It mandates the commercial aggregations sector, organizes and financess the transit and recycling spouses. Local governments run the municipal aggregation sites. Consumers merely need to reassign the e-waste to the aggregation points. For Maine, local governments via different paths collect the e-waste from consumers. Consumer should follow the methods by local authorities and return the e-waste. Consolidators sort off the trade name and direct bills to manufacturers for the transit and intervention cost. Table 3-2 Comparison for cost allotment of assorted stakeholders South Korea Sverige Pine tree state Consumers Free on a â€Å" new for old † footing Buy tickets when disposed with municipality Taxs EOL fees Local governments Receive tickets fee from consumers Receive revenue enhancements from consumers Collection cost of e-waste Manufacturer About the entire cost About the sum cost which pay to El Kretsen About the sum cost which wage to the consolidators Consumers do non necessitate to pay any excess fee under the â€Å" new for old † rule when buying the regulated points in South Korea. They may necessitate to purchase a tickets when disposal of e-waste from local governments. In Sweden, the aggregation cost of domestic e-waste is received from the revenue enhancements of all citizens. In Maine, consumers normally merely necessitate to pay the EOL fees which are less than US $ 5 per points for Televisions or computing machine proctors. Local governments in three topographic points receive money from consumers for aggregation cost. In Sweden, the local governments merely cover with the domestic e-waste. In the three topographic points reviews, manufacturers bear about the full cost in the PRS. In South Korea, manufacturers need to build the ain works for intervention of e-waste. It is an single duty system. Otherwise, they may contract out the occupation to commercial recycling workss or pay fees to the PRO. In Sweden and Maine, the manufacturers pay to consolidators based on market portions. In add-on, in Maine, the manufacturers portion the cost for handling the orphan e-waste by pro rata. Table 3-3 Comparison of roll uping and recycling rate South Korea Sverige Pine tree state Roll uping and Recycling rate ( kg/capita/year ) 11.0 15.8 1.8 In this tabular array, Sweden achieved the highest collection and recycling rate among three topographic points. It may due to a big classs of e-waste included in the Swedish system. South Korea besides got a comparatively high rate. It may due to the consequence of mark recycling in the system. The collection and recycling rate is really low when comparing to two other topographic points. First, the Maine plan merely covered domestic TVs and computing machine proctors. Second, the end-of-life fee besides contributed to it because some consumers may donate to charitable organisations instead than pay the EOL fees. ( Wagner, 2009 ) Table 3-4 Comparison of undertaking methods for illegal dumping South Korea Sverige Pine tree state Undertaking methods Monetary wages None None In South Korea, the pecuniary wages has attracted some citizen groups and organisations supervising the illegal dumping. In Sweden, there is no inducement for families to dispose the e-waste illicitly. It is because the use of municipal aggregation points is free of charge. Furthermore, the aggregation points are normally closer than topographic points which are suited for illegal dumping. ( Sasaki, 2004 ) For commercial sectors, there are some companies dumped the e-waste in municipal aggregation points. It is because El Kretsen can non separate the e-waste is come from families or concern sectors. ( Sasaki, 2004 ) . In Maine, due to the EOL fees, some e-waste possibly illicitly dumped. However, there is no information related to demo the figure of instances. ( Wagner, 2009 ) Table 3-5 Comparison of strengths and failings of the PRS systems Strengths Failings South Korea High recycling rate Monetary wages for describing illegal dumping Merely focal point on mark recycling rate, non the environmental-friendly intervention Sverige High recycling rate One not-for-profit consolidator – El Kretsen Excessively many classs of e-waste Taxs from citizens Municipal aggregation point can non separate e-waste from house servants or commercial sectors United States ( Maine ) Low cost for intervention Have step to cover with the orphan e-waste Low recycling rate Merely focal point on domestic e-waste Cumbersome for consolidators to screening the e-waste Orphan e-waste payment by manufacturers Illegal dumping due to EOL fee Korean ‘s pecuniary wages for describing illegal dumping is alone among three states. It greatly decreases the sum of illegal dumping of e-waste. Another alone characteristic is target recycling rate. The mark rate must be reached by the manufacturers. Otherwise, a levy is imposed. Therefore it maintains a high and stable collection and recycling rate. However this system merely focuses on the elevation of the recycling rate but non the intervention quality. Producer merely want to carry through the mark rate. There is no inducement for manufacturer to handle the e-waste decently. In Sweden, the recycling rate is highest among three reviewed topographic points. It may due to a assortment of e-waste is included in the system. Furthermore, there is no bear downing for disposing e-waste in municipal aggregation point. It may besides increase the inducement of domestic consumers to dispose the e-waste decently. Furthermore, El Kretsen covered about 90 % of e-waste. A large not-for-profit company integrates all the e-waste could hold better organisation of aggregation and transit for e-waste. However, the Swedish strategy has eleven classs of regulated e-waste. Many industries and companies are kicking about the complexness of the merchandise classification. ( Future Energy Solutions, 2003 ) On the other manus, the running cost for municipal aggregation sites come from the revenue enhancements from citizens. It is unjust to the citizens who do non utilize the service in the PRS system. In add-on, the municipal aggregation points receive e-waste free of charge. Some concern companies may dump the e-waste into the aggregation point illicitly. In United States ( Maine ) , the monetary value of consolidator services to manufacturer is administrated by the DEP yearly. The consolidators need to subject the lowest cost agenda to the manufacturers and local governments. Therefore, manufacturers can take the best offered monetary value for the services of consolidators. Furthermore, this is the lone PRS which have step to cover with orphan e-waste among three reviewed topographic points. It divides the intervention cost to manufacturers by pro rata. The collection and recycling rate is lowest among three reviewed topographic points in Maine. It is because the system merely focuses on domestic e-waste. Furthermore, the regulated e-waste merely included TVs and computing machine proctors. A big sum of e-waste The Maine ‘s progrmamme is cumbrous because every e-waste needs to screen by trade name. The consolidators besides need to enter the weight of e-waste. Furthermore, approximately 10 consolidators are responsible for screening the e-waste and direct bills to the manufacturers. Therefore, this system is time-consuming and increases the administrative costs for both consolidators and manufacturers. The manufacturers besides criticize for bearing the duty for the orphan e-waste. ( Wagner, 2009 ) Orphan e-waste means the e-waste trade name name can non be identified. They need to bear excess cost for the intervention of orphan e-waste by pro rata. Due to stop of life charge, consumers need to pay money to the local authoriti es when they dispose the e-waste. They may illicitly dump the e-waste. However, there is no statistic found in my research.4 Remarks for the PRS in Hong KongAfter the analysis of the PRS systems in South Korea, Sweden and United States ( Maine ) , it indicates that different stakeholders bear different proportion of physical and fiscal duty. Furthermore, a good Praseodymium should hold high collection and recycling rate. Since few electrical or electronic merchandises are produced locally in Hong Kong, manufacturers ‘ duties are in fact importers, distributers and retail merchants ‘ duty. For makers, it will be individually considered in the undermentioned subdivision.4.1 Physical DutyConsumer should co-operate in the PRS. They should dispose the e-waste to the aggregation sites or return back to the retail merchants or distributers. They could besides supply remark for the PRS to the authorities to implement a better system for e-waste direction. Incentive for consumers to take the e-waste back to the retail merchants or the aggregation sites is the of import measure. Collection sites should be easy accessible. Therefore, authorities and retail merchants or distributers should put up the broad spread aggregation sites in the 18 territories. They should supply a convenient manner to the consumers for disposal of e-waste. In Hong Kong, it is hard to put up ain recycling workss by manufacturers like the PR system in South Korea. Retailers and distributers should continue more duty. From the experience of South Korea and Sweden, labeling of the regulated merchandises should be done by the retail merchants or distributers. Therefore, consumers are able to cognize the cost of the PRS for the intervention and recycling of e-waste. Hong Kong has Numberss of retail merchants and distributers ; they may form or fall in a consolidator like El Kretsen in Sweden. With a cardinal consolidator, an enhanced organisation of aggregation and transit could be achieved. The retail merchants and distributers can pay the fee straight to the WEEE direction contractors Quality of intervention for e-waste is of import. The recyclers should handle and recycle the e-waste suitably. Environmental Protection Department can direct officers to look into the intervention procedure in the recycling works on a regular basis. Recyclers should follow the demands purely which are set up by authorities. Otherwise, authorities would ticket the recyclers. Monetary wages in South Korea has successfully decreased the figure of illegal dumping. Hong Kong authorities can larn from the experience of South Korea to put up some wages for describing illegal dumping.4.2 Financial ResponsibilityThere are two ways of bear downing methods from the experience of three topographic points. In Maine, the consumers need to pay the end-of-life fee when they dispose the e-waste. In Hong Kong, there is a building waste disposal bear downing strategy similar to Maine. However, it leads to big sum of illegal dumping in the New Territories. If the e-waste charging follows the same method, it likely leads to big sum of illegal dumping. In South Korea and Sweden, the fee is already included in the monetary value of the electrical contraptions. Therefore, it will enforce the fee to the importers and distributers, which is non welcome by them. In Hong Kong, after the audience paper released, the importers and distributers have unsatisfied to this option. However, in this option, Consumers do non necessitate to pay any fees when disposing the e-waste. This will diminish the inducement for consumer to dispose the e-waste illicitly. The two options have their ain pros and cons. Further treatment is needed. For the orphan e-waste, there is no step shown in the audience paper in Hong Kong. In the reviewed topographic points, merely Maine ‘s plan has steps to cover with it. First, retail merchants should merely sale electrical merchandises of manufacturers that are participated in the plan. It can diminish the figure of orphan e-waste coevals. Second, the intervention cost is divided by manufacturers by pro rata. It can ease the fiscal load from authorities to the manufacturers. Hong Kong can put up similar pattern to cover with the job of orphan e-waste.4.3 Collecting and recycling rateDifferent topographic points have different classs of e-waste included in the PRS. The proposed PRS in Hong Kong has similar regulated points to that in South Korea. After the execution of PRS in Hong Kong, the collection and recycling rate should accomplish a similar rate which is 11.0 kg/capita/year. Swedish plan achieve the highest rate which is 15.8 kg/capita/year and Maine ‘s plan merely r eached 1.8 kg/capita/year. These two values should be the favourable rate and lower limit rate that Hong Kong PRS should make severally.5 DecisionAfter reexamining the PRS in South Korea, Sweden and United States ( Maine ) , different states adopt the PRS with alone features. The Hong Kong authorities can larn from the strengths and failings of different strategies and do mentions for the hereafter patterns on e-waste direction. The authorities should happen a balanced point of duty among assorted stakeholders for e-waste directionLists of MentionDavis Gary. ( 1994 ) . Extended Producer Responsibility: A New Principle for a New Generation of Pollution Prevention. 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( June 2003 ) . Study into European WEEE Schemes. Gangnam-gu Office. ( 2004 ) . One stop big volume waste intervention system. Retrieved January 1, 2011 from hypertext transfer protocol: //waste.gangnam.go.kr/ Greenpeace. ( 2010 ) . Contamination of e-waste. Retrieved November 27, 2010 from Greenpeace: hypertext transfer protocol: //www.greenpeace.org/china/ch/campaigns/e-waste/pollution Il-Ho Park. ( November 2006 ) . Policy Direction on E-Waste Recycling in Korea. Lee Soo-cheol, & A ; Na Sung-in. ( 4th June 2010 ) . E-waste Recycling Systems and Sound Circulative Economies in East Asia: A Compararive Analysis of Systems in Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan. Sustainability, page 1632-1644. Lindhqvist T. ( 2000 ) . Extended Producer Responsibility in Cleaner Production: Policy Principle to Promote Environmental Improvements of Product Systems. Ming Pao. ( 28th December 2010 ) . Electronic Products levy consultaion. Ministry of Environment, Republic of Korea. ( 2010 ) . Extended Producer Responsibility. Retrieved January 1, 2011 from hypertext transfer protocol: //eng.me.go.kr/content.do? method=moveContent & A ; menuCode=pol_rec_pol_rec_sys_responsibility Rie Murakami-Suzuki and Sung-Woo Chung. ( 2008 ) . A Comparative Study of E-waste Recycling Systems in Japan, South Kore nad Taiwan from the EPR Perspective: Deductions for Developing States. Soo-cheol Lee and Sung-in Na. ( 4th June 2010 ) . E-waste Recycling Systems and Sound Circulative Economies in East Asia: A Compararive Analysis of Systems in Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan. Ronald E. Hester and Roy M. Harrison. ( 2009 ) . Electronic waste direction. Royal Society of Chemistry. Knut Sander, Stephanie Schilling, Naoko Tojo, Chris new wave Rossem, Jan Vernon, & A ; Carolyn George. ( 2007 ) . The Producer Responsibility Principle of. Sweden. Kohei Sasaki. ( December 2004 ) . Examing the Waste from the Electrical and Electronic Equipment Mangement Systems in Japan and Sweden. The Sierra Club. ( May 2009 ) . Producer Responsibility Recycling. Retrieved January 1, 2011 from hypertext transfer protocol: //www.sierraclub.org/committees/zerowaste/producerresponsibility/index.asp UNEP. ( 2007 ) . E-Waste Vol. 1: Inventory Assessment Manual. Travis P. Wagner. ( 19th July 2009 ) . Shared duty for pull offing electronic waste: A instance survey of Maine, USA. Waste Management.