Too_Many_Tools wrote:
Sorry but I did not mention what education background I have....none of
your business. ;)

The cost of handling a product would be factored into the original sale
price...and the company producing it would be liable for disposal.

Yeah, that was Iggy, but maybe you should look into it...

How could you possibly even approximately compute a realistic future
cost of handling any given product a priori, what more actually make it
reflect some "true" cost?

Previously you spoke of transportation as some over-arching cost of
consumer electronics, but whatever cost there is for it is already
incorporated at the retail point, obviously. So, when costs are
lowered to the end user by the use of integration and other modern
manufacturing techniques and lower overhead costs even after costs of
transportation and distribution are included, it simply means the
actual manufacturing cost itself is even lower than it appears. Again,
there's the efficiency of numbers -- it doesn't cost much more
incrementally to ship a carload of an item than it does a single one.

As for the disposal, the consumer already pays for disposal of the
items he discards through a variety of mechanisms--taxes, user fees,
private collection fees, etc., etc., etc., ... As noted previously,
various locations have already begun accounting for large and or
otherwise difficult-to-dispose-of items. This trend will undoubtedly
continue and will be far more efficient than a "one size fits all"
attempt could ever be.

As (and/or if) materials become more valuable, there will certainly be
more recycling as it becomes economically viable. The only reason at
present it isn't more prevalent is that it is not cost-effective. When
there is economic incentive, it will happen--until then, despite all
well-intentioned pleas in the world, it just won't.

You may not like that answer, but it's more reflective of reality...