Supply chain analysis of e-waste processing plants in developing countries

Abstract

e-Waste is generated at the staggering rate of 6.1 kg per person. In 2016, 44.7 million tonnes was generated globally, and the amount is estimated to reach 52 million tonnes annually by 2021. The management of this huge quantity of e-waste is a major problem across the world, primarily in developing countries. An effective e-waste management system is linked to the sustainability of e-waste processing plants, and currently it is plagued with different supply chain network (SCN) issues. To address the issues and challenges of SCN, there is a need to prioritize and address the constructs. The study thus combines two multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) tools, the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and quality function deployment, to prioritize the constructs identified from literature and supported by field studies. The house of quality (HOQ) has been used for analyzing different stakeholders’ requirements. The degree of importance for HOQ-1 has been derived using the AHP tool. The study revealed the most intriguing issues and challenges of e-waste processing plants considering the requirements of different stakeholders. The results showed formal collection, storage, semi-informal collection, and e-waste quality to be the major issues of processing plants. The findings obtained from MCDM analysis have been validated though two case studies in India and China. If the results obtained are applied to the existing e-waste SCN, a holistic e-waste management system can be achieved for developing countries.

E-waste recycling intention paradigm of small and medium electronics store managers in Bangladesh: An S–O–R perspective

“…On its part, Bangladesh generates about 2.7 MMT of e-waste annually (Alam and Bahauddin, 2015), most of which ends up in landfills. Even in recent times, according to Baidya et al (2019), e-Waste management is a challenging issue in developing countries such as India, China, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nigeria and so on.…”

Improving electronic waste processing by the informal sector to enhance sustainability

“…Some developing countries, such as Thailand and Indonesia, in particular, lack proper e-waste handling, treatment and management facilities and regulations or enforcement by either government agencies or industry associations. As a result, e-waste in these countries is typically processed using primitive methods (Table 1), such as manual separation of valuable materials, often enhanced by open burning of insulation and other organics (Baidya et al, 2019). These unregulated practices, sometimes conducted outdoors, create substantial environmental degradation and health hazards for those informal sector labourers and residents in nearby areas, who are exposed to toxic materials such as lead, flame retardants and polychlorinated biphenyls (Awasthi et al, 2018).…”

“…In any event, it will be necessary for developing countries that are home to informal e-waste recyclers to develop policies, regulations, and enforcement programmes to create a safer recycling industry, replacing the informal sector with a regulated formal sector. Government programmes should also include public education elements to raise the awareness of consumers, recyclers, and other stakeholders involved in the collection and recycling of e-wastes (Awasthi et al, 2019;Baidya et al, 2019).…”

“…Studies show that it is difficult for e-waste recyclers to earn even a small profit margin because the value of refurbished equipment and the volume/value of recovered materials are generally very low, and can fluctuate widely (Baidya et al, 2019). Furthermore, while it is relatively easy to put a new policy in place that aims to stop the unsafe disposal of e-wastes, implementation of that policy is very difficult.…”

“…Because of this market, legal or illegal exports of this (and other) type(s) of e-waste, developing nations can postpone the landfilling of these products by local traders and recyclers who either refurbish the products or extract/recycle the valuable metals contained therein (Awasthi et al, 2018). In the extraction process, the most commonly treated e-waste parts are printed circuit boards, which contain various metals, including some valuable ones such as copper and gold; these are then sold in the secondary market (Table 1) (Baidya et al, 2019; Parajuly et al, 2019).…”