Understanding consumers’ perspectives of electronic waste in an emerging economy: a case study of New Delhi, India

Abstract

Obsolete electronics or E-waste has observed significant escalation in the recent years. Young adults, in particular, are one of the largest consumers of electronic equipments in the contemporary world, although research on their perceptions, awareness and disposal behavior of E-waste has been far and few in between. Considering the growth trajectory of E-waste in the emerging economies, a study has been carried out in the capital city of India, New Delhi with 1039 respondents in the age group of 18-22. Contemplating its aggressive generation, obsolete mobile phone was considered as a representative of E-waste. Both purchase and disposal behaviors of mobile phones were evaluated through the lens of theoretical frameworks such as conspicuous consumption and throwaway society. The concepts of planned and premature obsolescence were also explored. A structured questionnaire survey was carried out through a respondent driven snowball sampling method. We observed that the functional need is the foremost consideration while deciding to purchase a new mobile phone within our study sample. Over 49% of our respondents change their mobile phones between 1 and 3 years. This corresponds to the fact that mobile phones are discarded very much within their actual functional lifespan. Overall, it could be concluded that the major attributes of conspicuous consumption and a throwaway society are still not dominant in our study sample. The experiences of India's E-waste have the potential to provide important insights for policy formulation and sustainable management particularly in other emerging economies and developing countries.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Regarding Electronic Waste (e-waste) Management Among Users of Electronic Equipments Living in Lucknow City

“…Likewise, a study carried out in the city of Chandigarh mentioned that 37.1% of the respondents in the city store their e-waste without any reason and this storage of obsolete electronics has been established as a major setback in the quantification of the waste volume and its recycling (Singh et al 2018). [20] Other electronic equipments Donated to friends, relatives, schools, charitable institutions 15 5 For the mobile users, individuals with older age (>=30 years) were more likely to continue using mobile devices for less than 5 years, and this difference was found to be statistically significant (p=0.006). The reason for the early replacement of the computing device's availability of a newer model was significantly linked to professional degree qualifications (p<0.001).…”

“…Another study on e-waste was conducted by Borthakur et al (2022), [15] New Delhi, India. Over 49% of our respondents change their mobile phones between 1 and 3 years.…”

“…[13] This unawareness leads to contamination of the environment and poses a serious health threat to people engaged in this occupation. [14] Numerous research have been done on the knowledge, attitude, and practices of managing e-waste in different parts of India, [1,11,15] but no such research was found to be conducted in Lucknow city, the capital of Uttar Pradesh. The knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of users utilising electronic equipment in Lucknow, India, are examined using the KAP model and its associated factors in the current study.…”

A Meta-Analysis to Assess Smartphone Disposal Destinations: The Challenges of Increasing Value Recovery

“…High percentages of informal collection are observed in studies carried out in China (CH) and India (IN) (Figure 1d). ICED23 Borthakur and Singh (2022) argue that in developing countries, e-waste is considered valuable, justifying the existence of informal collectors that buy users' scrap. The door-to-door collection done by collectors is a convenient means for product disposal, offering benefits to users but not the environment.…”

Complexity of E-Waste and its Management Challenges in Developing Countries – A Review

“…Although recycling is the most recommended method of e-waste management [120], the decision on the most preferred method of managing WEEE should be guided by the most ecological and economic option available [114,121]. The consumer decision during the use phase of a product whether to repair, pass to a second user or dispose, affect product life spans and subsequently the rate of e-waste generation [53,122].…”