E-waste Management Research Articles

Inventory of Electronic Waste (E-Waste) and Residues in Junkshops: A Step Towards Residual Waste Management

The improper management of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) constitutes a critical global environmental challenge, with a significant proportion of e-waste ending up in landfills, posing substantial ecological and health risks. In the Philippines, particularly in areas like Marilao and Bulacan, many individuals rely on the recycling of e-waste for their livelihoods, primarily through junkshops and informal recycling networks. Despite providing economic benefits, these practices often result in substantial residual waste, exacerbating landfill overflow and environmental degradation. This study aims to establish a detailed e-waste inventory and propose practical strategies for improving residual waste management. This research used a mixed-method approach to collect data via surveys, interviews, and direct observations at selected junkshops in Marilao. The findings enabled a comprehensive categorization of e-waste based on economic value, highlighting "temperature exchange equipment" as the most economically valuable category while identifying "small IT and telecommunication equipment" as the least. Among the significant residual wastes identified were base/black plastics, styrofoam, and glass, which are commonly mishandled. The study proposes several management strategies, including partnerships with local governmental bodies and recycling companies to enhance recycling processes, improving dismantling techniques to reduce waste, and implementing rigorous waste segregation practices to prevent contamination and improve recycling rates. This expansion is critical for a more comprehensive understanding and monitoring of e-waste management practices, facilitating the development of more effective and sustainable waste management solutions. By adopting these strategies, junkshops and informal recyclers can optimize e-waste management, reducing environmental impact while maintaining economic viability.

Managing technology-critical elements from electronic waste in Small Developing Island States: a burden or an opportunity?

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face profound challenges from pollution, exacerbated by inadequate infrastructure and resource limitations. This paper examines the longstanding pollution issues plaguing SIDS, highlighting their vulnerability to environmental degradation due to underdeveloped waste management systems and unique oceanographic conditions. The case study of Eleuthera Island in The Bahamas illustrates these challenges vividly, showcasing the island’s struggle with e-waste management. This example reinforces the urgency of integrated strategies to enhance environmental resilience and sustainable development in SIDS. Emerging concerns include the proliferation of technology-critical elements (TCEs) in e-waste, driven by rapid urbanization and tourism growth. Despite their crucial role in technological advancement, TCEs pose significant recycling and management difficulties, particularly in the context of limited waste infrastructure. The paper also highlights the imperative for comprehensive regulatory frameworks and sustainable practices to mitigate pollution impacts and safeguard ocean and human health, particularly by shedding light on legislative gaps and opportunities for enhancing pollution control measures in The Bahamas.

E-waste management from electronic repair workshops: Societal implications and environmental consequences

Improper disposal of faulty electronic devices can result in pollution, health hazards, social inequity, and legal issues. This study explores the perceptions and practices of electronic waste management among electronic repair technicians in Ho Municipality, Ghana, with a focus on the significant societal and environmental impacts of e-waste generated in electronic service workshops. A survey using both random and purposive sampling of 150 electronic repairers in Ho Municipality found limited awareness of the negative effects, toxic components, environmental risks, and proper handling and disposal procedures associated with e-waste. Notably, only 31 % of participants were aware of the environmental risks, while 69 % were not. "Experience" emerged as a significant predictor of awareness regarding e-waste health risks. Only 22 % were knowledgeable about the hazardous substances in e-waste, indicating a low level of awareness of its risks and opportunities for reducing them. These findings highlight the need for collaboration among stakeholders to implement sustainable e-waste management practices in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Navigating E-Waste Disposal: Formal Practices among Residents of Bukit Sentosa, Rawang, Selangor

Electronic waste (e-waste) contains harmful materials that require specialized end-of-life handling. This study aims to analyse formal e-waste disposal practices among residents in Bukit Sentosa, Rawang, Selangor. Employing a quantitative research approach, data were collected from 367 respondents residing in Bukit Sentosa to examine the relationship between knowledge, awareness, and attitudes towards e-waste disposal practices. Spearman's correlation test revealed positive correlations between knowledge, attitudes, and awareness, and formal e-waste disposal practices. These findings indicate that improved knowledge, attitudes, and awareness lead to more responsible disposal behaviours, including increased recycling, reduced waste production, and proper disposal of hazardous materials, thereby mitigating environmental pollution. The findings suggest to enhanced public awareness and education can foster better e-waste management practices among urban households. Furthermore, the results highlight the potential for collaboration between policymakers, government agencies, local authorities, and NGOs, contributing to the development of more comprehensive and effective waste management regulations.

MoS2 Modified Aluminum Electrode for Detection of Calcium Oxalate through Electrochemical Oxidation

The disposal of electronic waste (E-waste), encompassing discarded items such as computers, televisions, fridges, cellphones, and associated cabling, presents a significant challenge to both societal welfare and environmental health. Addressing e-waste management is critical to achieving several of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study introduces a novel approach to repurposing aluminum from discarded electrical cables for the creation of high-efficiency electrodes that can detect oxalic acid in human urine samples. The process involves stripping 2mm thick cables to yield 7cm long aluminum rods. These rods are then coated with MoS2 nanoparticles via a hydrothermal synthesis technique. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirms the presence of MoS2 in the 1T phase, while Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy provide insights into the vibrational modes and chemical composition. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) imaging depicts the MoS2 as having a flower-like nanostructure composed of interwoven nanosheets. The resulting nanocomposite sensor demonstrates an enhanced electrical current response, along with notable selectivity and stability, likely due to the combined effects of the MoS2 materials. The sensor’s amperometric signal is directly correlated with the oxalate ion concentration within a range of 10 to 300 μM and exhibits a detection threshold as low as 2 μM. This sensor technique was evaluated alongside a standard colorimetric assay for measuring oxalic acid levels in urine specimens. Findings indicated a strong correlation (R=0.954) between oxalic acid concentrations assessed using the biosensor and those obtained through the colorimetric approach.Keywords: E-waste, Aluminum Electrodes, MoS2 Nanoparticles, Oxalic Acid Detection, and Electrochemical Sensing, Figure 1

A Multi-Criteria Framework for Assessing the Sustainable E-Waste Management Methods with Complex Fuzzy Environment

Due to the substantial economic and environmental repercussions of improper E-waste management and treatment, the issue has gained indispensable attention. In recent years, the research has been done about the selection of proper E-waste management methods like site selection, disposal method selection, etc. with fuzzy environments. But in real situations, the major reasons for improper e-waste management are lack of awareness and improper disposal with sustainability. In finding a sustainable awareness-creating program and disposal method for E-waste, the uncertainty and its sustainability of the information make challenges to decision makers, so the problem becomes a two-dimensional problem with uncertainty. This paper uses complex fuzzy terms to illustrate this two-dimensional uncertain information, in which amplitude term represents the uncertainty about alternative and phase term represents the uncertainty about the sustainability of an alternative. First, we present a new framework MULTIMOORA under complex fuzzy structure. Then, in order to solve two-dimensional uncertain information about E-waste, the proposed complex fuzzy-MULTIMOORA method is applied, in which E-waste awareness-creating program and treatment technology selection are done. The sensitivity and comparative analysis are further delivered to validate the effectiveness of the proposed technique.

Challenges of E-waste Management in Sabah: A systematic review

E-waste management is becoming more complex as society's reliance on technology grows. Due to the effects on the environment and human health, proper disposal is essential. Through systematic review of 25 articles using PRISMA methodology, this paper explores the e-waste challenges in Sabah, Malaysia. The study discovered that among the challenges are things like poor infrastructure, informal recycling, and little knowledge and awareness. This discovery offers insightful information that will help stakeholders, including policymakers, researchers, and researchers, develop sustainable solutions to the e-waste problems in Sabah in particular.

WEEE Behaviour from Households: A qualitative approach

E-waste disposal practices associated with the problem of environmental sustainability have emerged as one of the discussion's most intriguing subtopics. Adopting efficient e-waste management systems is essential to successfully reusing, recycling, and value recovery activities. Only 20% (8.9 Mt) of the e-waste produced in 2016 was collected correctly and recycled. It highlights the shortcomings of e-waste management systems, which are crucial for home electronic disposals, especially in Malaysia. It is critical to consider how vital waste management systems are to enhancing the environment's performance and the nation's economy. Collaboration is critical to the overall performance of e-waste management among all parties involved in the logistics chain, including customers (households) and governmental and commercial entities. Using a qualitative approach to understanding the different narratives among stakeholders juxtaposing the crucial element to sustain WEEE from landfills.

A comprehensive review of current techniques, issues, and technological advancements in sustainable E-waste management

Electronic garbage (E-waste), which is caused by the global fast obsolescence and disposal of electronic gadgets, has become a major environmental concern. Adoption of sustainable E-waste management strategies has become crucial to address the growing effects of e-waste on the environment and human health. This in-depth overview of existing practices, problems, and new technology developments in sustainable E-waste disposal is presented in this thorough review article. The article analyses the efficiency of frequently used E-waste management strategies for reducing environmental effects and fostering resource recovery, including recycling, refurbishing, landfilling, and extended producer responsibility (EPR) initiatives. The main difficulties that policymakers, producers, recyclers, consumers, and employees in the unorganized sector of the economy confront in managing e-waste are also discussed, along with possible solutions. The analysis emphasizes the value of ecologically sound E-waste recycling techniques and examines new technology advancements, such as automated disassembly and trash sorting based on artificial intelligence, aimed at improving recycling efficiency and lowering environmental burdens. Along with successful case studies, the idea of a circular economy and sustainable product design in E-waste management are also covered. It is highlighted the need of strong legislative frameworks, international partnerships, and public engagement in responsible E-waste disposal in order to address the issue of transboundary flows of E-waste. In its last section, the paper sketches out the picture for the future and makes suggestions for how governments, businesses, and other stakeholders may adopt sustainable E-waste management approaches and further the development of a circular economy for E-waste.

An Economic Optimization Model of an E-Waste Supply Chain Network: Machine Learned Kinetic Modelling for Sustainable Production

Purpose: E-waste management (EWM) refers to the operation management of discarded electronic devices, a challenge exacerbated due to overindulgent urbanization. The main purpose of this paper is to amalgamate production engineering, statistical methods, mathematical modelling, supported with Machine Learning to develop a dynamic e-waste supply chain model. Method Used: This article presents a multidimensional, cost function-based analysis of the EWM framework structured on three modules including environmental, economic, and social uncertainties in material recovery from an e-waste (MREW) plant, including the production–delivery–utilization process. Each module is ranked using Machine Learning (ML) protocols—Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and combined AHP-Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Findings: This model identifies and probabilistically ranks two key sustainability contributors to the EWM supply chain: energy consumption and carbon dioxide emission. Additionally, the precise time window of 400–600 days from the start of the operation is identified for policy resurrection. Novelty: Ours is a data-intensive model that is founded on sustainable product designing in line with SDG requirements. The combined AHP-PCA consistently outperformed traditional statistical tools, and is the second novelty. Model ratification using real e-waste plant data is the third novelty. Implications: The Machine Learning framework embeds a powerful probabilistic prediction algorithm based on data-based decision making in future e-waste sustained roadmaps.

E-WASTE MANAGEMENT THROUGH DEEP LEARNING: A SEQUENTIAL NEURAL NETWORK APPROACH

The goal of this research is to improve the management of electronic trash (e-waste) by using a Sequential Neural Network (SNN) with TensorFlow and Keras as part of an advanced deep learning technique. In order to address the growing problem of e-waste, the research collects a large amount of data from images of e-waste and then carefully preprocesses and augments those images. With precision, recall, and F1 scores of 87%, 86%, and 86%, respectively, the SNN architecture—which incorporates dropout, pooling, and convolutional layers—achieved an amazing 100% classification accuracy. These outstanding outcomes show how well the model can classify e-waste components, suggesting that it has the potential to be used in real-world scenarios. The results indicate that the SNN-based approach greatly improves the accuracy and efficiency of e-waste sorting, promoting environmental sustainability and resource conservation. By automating the sorting process, the suggested system decreases the need for manual labor, minimizes human error, and speeds up processing. The study emphasizes the model's suitability for integration into current e-waste management workflows, providing a scalable and dependable way to expedite the recycling process. Additionally, the model's real-time applicability highlights its potential to revolutionize current e-waste management practices, making a positive ecological impact. . Future research endeavors will center on broadening the dataset to include a wider range of e-waste image categories, investigating more advanced deep learning architectures, and incorporating the system with Internet of Things (IoT) devices to improve real-time monitoring and management.

Household e-waste management: A comprehensive review

The improper handling of domestic e-waste poses serious environmental and health risks. By highlighting the crucial problems and potential solutions, this thorough analysis attempts to synthesize the body of knowledge on managing household e-waste. However, designing sustainable management techniques requires consideration of the collection system, consumer awareness, and policy. Inadequate household e-waste management has led to resource waste, the leakage of dangerous contaminants into ecosystems, and negative health effects on humans and the environment. Using the search engine database SCOPUS, a comprehensive literature review encompassing journal articles spanning the last four years from 2019–2022 was performed. The key themes used in the review, such as collection system, awareness, and policy, were analyzed and synthesized. This review reveals the challenges in managing household e-waste. Collection mechanisms vary widely, with success relying on factors such as awareness campaigns and Deposit-Refund Schemes (DRSs). Collecting processes exhibit significant disparities in efficiency, with potential for improvement through technological advancements, such as smart sorting systems and robotics. Policy frameworks, while present in many regions, often lack comprehensive implementation. To address these challenges effectively, a holistic approach is needed. Implementing comprehensive policy frameworks, raising awareness, and adopting emerging collecting system technologies are crucial steps forward.

A Descriptive Analysis of Electronic Waste Management among Electronic Repair Vendors in Mwanza City, Tanzania

Electronic waste (e-waste) is a rapidly growing global problem, with Africa generating 2.9 million metric tons of e-waste in 2019. In Tanzania, Mwanza faces a significant amount of e-waste and poor management of e-waste collection and disposal. This study conducted a descriptive analysis of e-waste management practices among electronic repair vendors in Mwanza City, Tanzania. The objective was to describe their current e-waste management practices, identify challenges, and highlight areas for improvement. The lack of awareness and inadequate practices among electronic repair vendors hinder effective e-waste management, contributing to the environmental and health risks associated with the improper disposal of hazardous materials. A literature review revealed the importance of stakeholder engagement, improved awareness, and sustainable e-waste management practices in various African countries. This study employed a descriptive research design, utilizing both quantitative and qualitative methods. Data will be collected through questionnaires, interviews, and observations targeting a sample of electronic repair vendors in Mwanza City. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The findings indicate that using e-waste as a spare part of other products and selling non-repairable e-waste to third parties are current e-waste management practices. Moreover, e-repair vendors have been found to contribute to e-waste management, particularly repair, collection, and storage. Based on these findings, the study recommends that an e-waste awareness campaign be instituted in the e-repair industry, that e-waste management be undertaken sustainably to combat unnecessary disposal, and that the deposition of e-waste and e-waste collection equipment(s) be provided to e-repair vendors for proper e-waste collection and management. Also, there is a need to conduct further studies to assess strategies used by local authorities to support e-repair vendors in e-waste management.

E-waste Management Practices: A Case of Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City, Nepal

The fast deterioration of electronic gadgets is being caused by the highly competitive electronic market and the rising purchasing patterns of consumers. It can be difficult to handle electronics when their useful lives are ending and when they are replaced or thrown away for various reasons over time. This research aims to comprehend the viewpoint of electronics consumers regarding managing their electronic waste, with a particular focus on Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City's ward no. 05. The factors found in the literature were used to create questionnaires. The questions were created using various sources, including socioeconomic and demographic data, information on E-waste generation and disposal practices, consumer intentions toward E-waste management, and awareness levels. The study's findings demonstrated that while consumers were aware of the issues surrounding E-waste, they lacked a significant amount of knowledge regarding formal recycling centers and other strategies for managing waste. Additionally, it was seen that most respondents were either willing to sell their televisions and desktop computers to scrap traders or wanted to repair them. For instance, the majority of participants reported never receiving any E-waste management training, but many also claimed they would be prepared to pay the E-waste handling organization to participate in E-waste management programs and hence, Itahari Sub-Metropolitan is advised to undertake community-based initiatives to improve E-waste management programs.

Assessing Knowledge and Practices of E-Waste Management Among Consumers in Mangaluru City

Assessing Knowledge and Practices of E-Waste Management Among Consumers in Mangaluru City

Exploring barriers in the transition toward an established e-waste management system in Brazil: a multiple-case study of the formal sector

AbstractBrazil is the largest generator of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) in Latin America but faces significant challenges with its management. This study investigates barriers to the growth of the formal sector in transitioning toward an established e-waste management system in the country. Driven by sustainability transitions research, it applies a transition management approach to e-waste management. The study presents the results of field studies conducted in four organizations with different levels of recycling operations. The results show several barriers, for instance, a lack of processes for the complete separation of metals, high reverse logistics cost, a lack of transparency throughout the supply chains, concern with data security, and a lack of financial incentives and policy integration. The study highlights various initiatives from the organizations that assist in tackling some of the identified barriers and shed light on possible transition pathways. The study provides a perspective from e-waste management organizations and policy insights to strengthen e-waste management in the country.

Elemental characterization of electronic waste: a review of research methodologies and applicability to the practice of e-waste recycling

Economic and environmental considerations have elucidated research interests on the best approach to managing electronic waste (e-waste), which has increasing social, environmental, and economic impacts. Proper e-waste managementis essential for resource recovery, environmental sustainability, and public health protection, and effective management of e-waste necessitates analytical techniques to assess and characterize their elemental composition. Despite expansive literature published on the topic of e-waste, there is scarce coverage of the various analytical techniques employed to characterize the inorganic contents of e-waste. This review discusses the various e-waste characterization techniques used in studies published between 2013 and 2023. Specifically, this review covers the analytical approaches employed to characterize the inorganic content of e-waste, the electronic devices or their components analyzed, the elements identified, the sample preparation methods adopted, and the merits and demerits of the analytical procedures. This review highlights the disparate approaches to e-waste characterization and the need for reliable and repeatable e-waste analysis and sample preparation methods.

Smart e-waste management: a revolutionary incentive-driven IoT solution with LPWAN and edge-AI integration for environmental sustainability.

Managing e-waste involves collecting it, extracting valuable metals at low costs, and ensuring environmentally safe disposal. However, monitoring this process has become challenging due to e-waste expansion. With IoT technology like LoRa-LPWAN, pre-collection monitoring becomes more cost-effective. Our paper presents an e-waste collection and recovery system utilizing the LoRa-LPWAN standard, integrating intelligence at the edge and fog layers. The system incentivizes WEEE holders, encouraging participation in the innovative collection process. The city administration oversees this process using innovative trucks, GPS, LoRaWAN, RFID, and BLE technologies. Analysis of IoT performance factors and quantitative assessments (latency and collision probability on LoRa, Sigfox, and NB-IoT) demonstrate the effectiveness of our incentive-driven IoT solution, particularly with LoRa standard and Edge AI integration. Additionally, cost estimates show the advantage of LoRaWAN. Moreover, the proposed IoT-based e-waste management solution promises cost savings, stakeholder trust, and long-term effectiveness through streamlined processes and human resource training. Integration with government databases involves data standardization, API development, security measures, and functionality testing for efficient management.

The critical success factors for sustainable resource management in circular economy: Assessment of urban mining maturity level

The rapid development of population, urbanization, and industrialization increase the consumption of modern products that generate electronic waste (e-waste) globally. Efforts to overcome e-waste in the context of circular economy exist, but a lack of agreement among researchers and practitioners' challenges how to best measure success in the e-waste circular economy. This study aims to address critical success factors (CSFs) of the e-waste circular economy to assess the maturity levels of urban mining. Maturity levels of urban mining are developed by employing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that derive from how well CSFs are executed. The maturity level is modeled by adding all scores of KPIs aligned with CSFs. Automatic Content Analysis is used to extract keywords and interpret the relationship among keywords to form initial factors in CSFs from a set of related articles on e-waste management. These initial factors are further analyzed by subject experts using facet analysis to construct KPIs in line with the CSFs. The experts' score determines the maturity level of urban mining: initial, emerging, developing, established, and mature. From the experiment, we found seven factors in CSFs and 34 indicators in KPIs. Three countries (Indonesia, India, and Japan) were used as the trials of the assessment of urban mining maturity level. Indonesia's urban mining maturity level is considered emerging with a score of 54, and the same score is reflected in India. With a score of 114, Japan has reached an established stage. Furthermore, the results of urban mining maturity level assessment can be used as guidance to choose and prioritize SDGs. According to urban mining indicators identified, the successful implementation of sustainable urban mining can play important roles in promoting sustainability development goals, especially including SDG 9, SDG 11, SDG 12, SDG 13, SDG 17, SDG 7, SDG 6, and SDG 8.

Leveraging Life Cycle Assessment and System Dynamics Model Analysis for an Integrated Household E-Waste Management System in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Electronic waste (E-waste) is a global environmental issue and a contemporary challenge in developing countries, where implementing sustainable E-waste management policies is required to mitigate the adverse impacts of inappropriate treatment and disposal. This study assesses the environmental and human health impacts of the current E-waste management system in Yaoundé. The study then proposes an integrated E-waste management system (IEMS) with policy instruments for increased formal E-waste collection and reduced environmental impacts from informal E-waste treatment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was utilized to identify high-impact contributing processes within the current E-waste management system (EMS) and to determine the optimum scenario for an integrated system. The system dynamics model (SDM) analysis ascertained the efficiency of the E-waste policy under the IEMS. Results show that the IEMS can reduce global warming potential, fine particulate matter formation, and human carcinogenic toxicity from one ton of E-waste treatment by 27%, 16.3%, and 34%, respectively. Regarding the policy efficiency simulation for the IEMS, the policy instrument (Policy 1), with levies on electronic appliance producers, proved environmentally efficient in reducing the quantity of informal recycling. It was also more economically viable for the recycling fund to increase formal E-waste collection and subsidize formal treatment within the context of the IEMS. The study outcome is informative for E-waste management policy planning in developing economies.