【Paper】
A Survey on Consumer Disposal Behavior of Electric Home Appliances for Encouraging Products' Long-term Use and Reuse
Tomohiro Tasaki*, Atsushi Terazono* and Yuichi Moriguchi*
* Research Center for Material Cycles and Waste Management, National Institute for Environmental Studies
† Correspondence should be addressed to Tomohiro Tasaki:
（16-2 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8506 Japan）

Abstract
In order to identify factors that would encourage the reduction and reuse of electric home appliances, a questionnaire survey was carried out on past and future consumer behavior in disposing of TV sets, air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, PCs, microwave ovens, vacuum cleaners, and VCRs. The results showed the following typical patterns of disposal behavior: the most influential factor was mechanical failure; reuse was seldom carried out, however, products with mechanical failure could be reused if there is demand in the market; reuse did not necessarily have a significant advantage in terms of a products' long-term use; it was difficult to repair or reuse a product whose life-time had already passed over a certain period of time; even though a consumer has motivation for repair and reuse, social systems discouraged such behavior; a consumer's willingness to continue using the same product faded considerably discouraged when the product's condition become degraded. We also discussed measures might be taken to encourage consumers to reduce or reuse electric home appliances.

Key words: electric home appliances, personal computer, disposal behavior, long-term use, reuse