Game Theory–Based Multistakeholder Planning for Electronic Waste Management

Abstract

Stakeholder decision making is needed for implementing policies that affect both initial purchase decisions of electronic gadgets and ultimate decisions about land disposal/recycling or storage of electronic waste. In consumer electronics, a long-term relationship between manufacturer and consumer might lead to contracts that create incentives for consumers to return used electronic gadgets. The result could be more effective economically and environmentally for involved stakeholders like manufacturers, consumers, and society as a whole. If a stakeholder can further obtain more profit through collaborating with others in some coalition, it will be preferred to collaborate rather than participating individually. This paper discusses the noncooperation as well as cooperation of stakeholders and gives a formulation for the calculation of their profits. After that, based on game theory, a scheme to decide which strategy is better suited, gaining the maximum profit, to a stakeholder and also the profit allocation of each stakeholder in the coalitions rationally and impartially is proposed. Results for stakeholders verified the principle that cooperation is better than competition.