The collection and recycling of small-sized waste electrical and electronic equipment is an emerging problem, since these products contain certain amounts of critical metals and rare earths. Even if the amount is not large, having a few supply routes for such recycled resources could be a good strategy to be competitive in a world of finite resources. The small-sized e-waste sometimes contains personal information, therefore, consumers are often reluctant to put them into recycling bins. In order to promote the recycling of E-waste, collection of used products from the consumer becomes important. Effective methods involving incentives for consumers might be necessary. Without such methods, it will be difficult to achieve the critical amounts necessary for an efficient recycling system. This article focused on used mobile phones among information appliances as the first case study, since it contains relatively large amounts of valuable metals compared with other small-sized waste electrical and electronic equipment and there are a large number of products existing in the market. The article carried out surveys to determine what kind of recycled material collection services are preferred by consumers. The results clarify that incentive or reward money alone is not a driving force for recycling behaviour. The article discusses the types of effective services required to promote recycling behaviour. The article concludes that securing information, transferring data and providing proper information about resources and environment can be an effective tool to encourage a recycling behaviour strategy to promote recycling, plus the potential discount service on purchasing new products associated with the return of recycled mobile phones.

In order to secure valuable materials and to establish better circular economy practice, new legislation to promote recycling of small-sized e-waste including used mobile phones started in April 2013, in Japan. In order to consider appropriate methods to reduce material usage in mobile phone production, an examination of appropriate strategies in handling used mobile phone products is warranted. This paper investigates an analysis of material flow model for used mobile phones. Then, by analyzing the model, it tries to find suitable strategies to reduce the material consumption associated with mobile phone production and consumption. Although material recycling is an important strategy in Japan, other waste management options exist. This research indicates which factors are keys in reducing material consumption and CO₂ emission, and establishing resource efficient production. The study concludes that “domestic product reuse” and “official recycling networks” are equally good in reducing the consumption of virgin materials associated with mobile phone production. However, in doing so, it is necessary to establish a system in which consumers can properly return their used mobile phones for recycling. Such an end-of-life waste management system can reduce both waste and resource consumption and the environmental impacts associated with increasing mobile phone production. Further research investigating the value of increasing the product reuse rate and the collection return rate for mobile phones is also warranted.