E-Waste Management Practices of Households in Melaka

Abstract

Abstract-This study aims to identify current e-waste management practices by households in Melaka. Data were collected from a sample of 345 households in Melaka, Malaysia by means of a self-administered questionnaire survey. Snowball sampling which is part of the non-probability sampling was utilized in this research. The results show that the quantities of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in use and the rate of replacements of even functioning EEE are increasing, which in turn increase the generation of e-waste. This study also provides evidence that the level of households' awareness towards e-waste recycling is still low. Thus, the time has come for the introduction of a recycling programme for these potentially harmful waste materials. The findings of this study also lead to implications for the theory-deficient of e-waste recycling literature and several policy recommendations for policy makers to enhance household e-waste recycling response rate.

A Study on Barriers to Implement E-Waste Management

“…The findings show that the respondents will recycle their e-waste if government enforces the guidelines in electronic waste. The absent of the regulations are the main issue that hindered the effective e-waste management and there is no e-waste regulations implemented in Malaysia currently [1]. According to the study done by Jasmine Adela Mutang et al (2015), residents were not practice recycle due to there is lack of enforcement and they suggest that 'reward and punishment' can encourage residents involved themselves in recycling [16].…”

“…With the evolution of economy lead the high consumption of EEE and it has become a central issue all over the world. The usage of electrical and electronic equipment is becoming more popular in today's world [1]. With the increasing usage of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE), electronic waste (E-waste) is growing rapidly and become a common global issue to all of the developing nations, the waste of the electrical and electronic equipment is mushrooming all over the world.…”

“…Meanwhile, Malaysia is having the same issues as in other countries. The average of 700 kilotons of e-waste generated by household per year and most of them are contributed by television and mobile phone [1]. Malaysia has produced 415 kilotons of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in 2012, and which has generated 289.32 kilotons of e-waste [6].…”

“…The recycling effort of households is still low. In Malaysia, there is only 5% of e-waste collected from households and recycled by Material Recovery Facilities [1]. Malaysians have low awareness about the environment and the impact caused by hazardous substance produced by the e-waste [12].…”

Attributes to facilitate e-waste recycling behaviour

“…Lacking of recycling facilities will decrease the consumers' intention to recycle and thus the recycling rate will be lower [32]. According to authors [18], in order to establish a proper management of solid waste on [33] stated that in order to improve the e-waste recycling among residents in Melaka, government should provide the recycling infrastructure so that residents know where to recycle their e-waste. In present context, E-waste Recycling Infrastructure and Services consists of three elements which are e-waste drop-off site, e-waste recycling bin and e-waste collection service.…”