Dynamic policy adaptation in dual-channel WEEE recycling: integrating government intervention, consumer environmental awareness, and price competition

WEEE recycling is critical for global environmental governance and sustainable resource development, especially in developing countries where the coexistence of weak formal sectors and rampant informal recycling leads to resource waste and severe pollution. Existing research predominantly focuses on government subsidies for formal recyclers, yet it overlooks the integration of governance of informal sectors. This study constructs a dual-channel (formal/informal) price competition model incorporating consumer environmental awareness, systematically evaluating the effects of government subsidy policies and integration governance policies on recycling volumes, resource reuse efficiency, and environmental benefits. The findings indicate that government subsidy policies are constrained by a threshold: their effectiveness is significantly limited if subsidy intensity fails to bridge the processing cost gap between formal and informal sectors. Conversely, the implementation of integration governance policies requires that informal recyclers’ profits under such policies are not lower than those under government subsidies. Policy selection depends on dynamic matching between government investment and consumer environmental awareness: with low investment, integration governance outperforms in regions with high environmental awareness; with sufficient investment, subsidies yield more comprehensive benefits. Furthermore, an extended “subsidy + integration” synergistic policy is proposed to leverage the advantages of both approaches, achieving full resource utilization and stable environmental benefits.