Managing the E-waste Efficiently Through Consumer Awareness and Involvement- A Review

Abstract

Increased usage and ever-increasing demand of electronic products in daily life has led to growth in the amount of waste that is being generated from electrical and electronic equipment. The current situation in India is alarming due to the fact that along with China, it is the largest importer of E-Waste, with only 3% of it being recycled properly. Considering the volumes of E-Waste that is being generated, there is a need to understand the need for its efficient disposal and management along with the environmental and health problems that are being faced currently due to its informal recycling.

The research paper focuses on presenting an outline on E-Waste along with understanding the consumer behavior and their awareness on managing E-Waste that is being generated in Delhi through Descriptive research method. For this purpose, data was collected through questionnaire-based surveys to understand the awareness level among people regarding existing E-Waste management measures and the attitude towards the same. The target respondents for the survey included households, offices and youngsters. Different zones based on population density and socio-economic status from Delhi were selected for the survey. The paper also intends to study trend analysis of historical data on E-Waste along with analysis on the secondary data that was collected from various sources to highlight and bring forward the schemes and solutions to assist the management of increasing quantities of E-Waste.

For any study to be conclusive, the test analysis and the inferences need to be recorded systematically. The results based on statistical analyses are there is a no significant relationship between Age of the respondent and their awareness towards E-waste management, education qualification of the respondent and their willingness to learn about sustainable, safe and proper disposal of product and income level of the respondent and their willingness to spend on electronics annually.