Abstract
The generation of electronic waste (e-waste) is increasing at an alarming rate in South Africa. This waste stream is also emanating from household appliances due to beneficial attributes accrued to the use of these electronic devices. At the same time, these devices are a source of concern considering the environmental impacts as well the threat of health hazards they possess to human wellbeing. In appraising household knowledge and perception on e-waste management in Limpopo Province of South Africa, 200 semi-structured, self-administered questionnaires were used in eliciting data from the participants. The results indicated that 76% of the respondents believed that e-waste streams have negatively affected their environment. Additionally, 85% of the survey households are willing to pay for the proper disposal of their e-waste. Furthermore, the results indicated a statistically significance between gender and knowledge on e-waste management (p-value 0.003) while there was no statistically significant difference between gender and perception (p-value 0.318) on e-waste management. Based on the results, the study recommends awareness and educational campaigns as a step in changing the perception of households on e-waste and environmental consciousness.
Highlights
In the last two decades, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), referred to as e-waste, has created a new environmental challenge [1,2]
The reason why there were female respondents is that the males who are regarded as the household heads were not available at the time of administering the questionnaires, the questions were directed to the females who acted as the household head
The findings from this study demonstrated that knowledge and perception regarding e-waste is the primary influencing factor in activating a proper waste management intention
Summary
In the last two decades, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), referred to as e-waste, has created a new environmental challenge [1,2]. The unanticipated repercussion of this is a distending of electronic waste (e-waste) [2]. It is estimated that only 20% of the global e-waste produced in 2018 was documented, collected and recycled. The generation of e-waste has been on the increase and it was estimated that approximately 54 million metric tons of e-waste were produced in 2019 [3]. Relying on an annual growth rate of about 4 to 5%, e-waste is regarded as one of the fastest-growing waste streams in the world [4]
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