Sustainable management of electronic waste: Empirical evidences from a stakeholders' perspective

Abstract

With rapid advancements in technology, the evolution and demand for electronic/electric devices have drastically increased. The exponential increase in the use of technology to fulfill the needs of the fast-paced information era has led to electronic and electrical devices being discarded or disposed of at a faster rate than in the past. This phenomenon has resulted in e-waste becoming the fastest-growing form of solid waste. E-waste is classified as hazardous waste and can be harmful to the environment and health if not disposed of responsibly. Therefore, alternatives, such as exporting, landfilling, and recycling (from different economic, social, technical, and environmental criteria), are of interest to minimize the disposal of this toxic waste form into landfill sites. The analytic hierarchy process approach was deployed to evaluate and prioritize alternatives for e-waste processing systems in the United Arab Emirates context. The obtained results indicate that recycling has the highest priority among the studied alternatives in the e-waste processing system. The low economic and environmental awareness of stakeholders with regard to e-waste shows that e-waste management system initiatives must be expedited to adhere to e-waste best practices implemented nationally and internationally.