Abstract:Against the background of the government’s implementation of the recycling target responsibility system, this study investigates the effectiveness of a policy mix combining the recycling target responsibility system and a consumer deposit-refund system. Considering a closed-loop supply chain consisting of a manufacturer and a recycler, three game models are developed: a model without recycling regulation, a model with dual recycling regulations, and a model with dual recycling regulations and subsidies financed by unredeemed deposits. By comparing the equilibrium pricing decisions under the three models, this study examines the effects of the combined policies on waste electrical and electronic equipment recycling and environmental performance. The main findings are as follows. (1) When the recycling target responsibility system is implemented alone, only a sufficiently high recycling target can induce the manufacturer and the recycler to adopt a full-recycling strategy. When the consumer deposit-refund system is introduced, full recycling of waste electrical and electronic equipment can be achieved at any recycling target, provided that an appropriate deposit level is set. (2) The policy mix of the recycling target responsibility system and the consumer deposit-refund system can effectively improve environmental performance, but it reduces the profits of both the manufacturer and the overall supply chain. (3) By appropriately setting the recycling target and using unredeemed deposits to subsidize the manufacturer and the recycler, the government can increase the profits of the overall supply chain and the recycler while reducing adverse environmental impacts.