The biggest challenge to a successful HHWM collection program
is to minimize participant effort by maximizing convenience and to
avoid separate drop-off fees. One approach to achieving these
criteria is a mandatory retail take-back program. The adoption of
the SLO mandatory retail take-back program has dramatically
increased the amount of HHWM being diverted from MSW land-
fills. While the program adds additional burdens to consumers and
especially to retailers, as opposed to illegal disposal, the overall
convenience of the program and the shared responsibility approach
have been instrumental in its success. Compared to before the
adoption of the program, there has been a dramatic increase in the
number of collection sites, the distance to travel to a drop-off
location from home or work has been shortened significantly,
drop-off locations are open more often (days per week and hours
per day) than public waste facilities, there are no EOL fees, and
retail stores are destination locations for additional shopping and
services. In short, the need to take dedicated trips to dispose of
unwanted material is substantially reduced making the activity
sufficiently convenient enough to increase the diversion of HHWM
from the MSW waste stream