E-waste management awareness in the community: Knowledge, attitude, and practices

Abstract

E-waste refers to the discarded electronic devices, components, and materials used in their production or operation. Reducing e-waste generation helps conserve resources and decreases the energy extracted from the earth. One effective approach to tackling this issue is by promoting awareness about sustainable e-waste disposal practices within the community. This study aims to identify the level of E-waste disposal awareness among the Teluk Kemang Port Dickson community, disposal methods and the impact on the environment. The method in this research study is through the collection of data from previous studies, interviews and a questionnaire instrument were used to obtained feedback by non -probability sampling technique using convenience sampling. The result indicates that only 37% of participants are aware of e-waste management practices and the most common e-waste that are disposed is a cable 81.3%. The factor of e-waste disposal amongst the residents, where 28.2% are because of obsolete products, 52.5% end of a product’s life span, 65.4% damaged items and finally 33.3% because of the appearance of cheaper/better alternatives. The research reveals that 45.1% of them dispose e-waste at any available places, 41.4% switch it with new one, 38.8% donating it to charities, 28.8% of them sell their e-waste to a recycler and 26.3% of the residents dispose it at the designated place such as the e-waste disposal center. This findings and issues studied can be used as a reference for the government, non-governmental organisations, the authorities and the community to develop a more sustainable community life.

Keywords: E-waste disposal awareness, e-waste disposal knowledge, e-waste disposal practices, e-waste management system