EXPLORING ELECTRONIC WASTE DISPOSAL STRATEGIES IN THE WA MUNICIPALITY

Abstract

The use of electronic gadgets permeates through all spheres of society and as a result generates humongous volumes of electronic waste whose disposal presents an arduous task to city authorities. This study explored electronic waste disposal strategies in the Wa. It assessed the awareness of the legal and regulatory policies guiding e-waste disposal, composition of electronic waste materials, strategies for disposing-off electronic waste and challenges facing electronic waste management. The study adopted a mixed method approach. With regards to data collection, 150 households were surveyed with the aid of a questionnaire. This was complemented with in-depth interviews involving heads of some institutions (hotels and tertiary institutions) where waste is generated as well as heads of public/private institutions that have oversight responsibilities in waste management. The results revealed diverse strategies of electronic waste disposal including keeping at home, donating to charity, selling to secondhand dealers and dumping at designated waste disposal sites. The results further revealed that e-waste management was beset with technical, institutional, social and financial challenges with awareness on legal and regulatory policies guiding e-waste management being low. The study concludes that: awareness of legal framework was low, institutions, hotels and households generate different e-waste materials, keeping at home and donating to the needy were the preferred disposal strategies while technical, financial, institutional and social constraints hinder e-waste management. Based on these findings, the research recommended intensive public education, enforcing laws guiding e-waste management, establishing recycling facilities and take-back schemes, and prioritization of waste management by governments should attract the attention of policy makers.