87
consumers’ products requires significant investments, which are considered as
obstacles by micro and small enterprises (Yacob et al. 2012).
It is also important to emphasize that recyclers of E-waste face uncertainty in
terms of the quantity and the quality. Moreover, they must adjust their decisions
through some form of the dynamic process associated with the sources of the
E-waste (Nagurney and Toyasaki 2005). Nonetheless, company policies and
organizational structures are often obstacles, which make it difficult to change to a
sustainable vision. In the case of reverse logistics, the absence of a clear view of the
process further corroborates this increase. An example is the companies that have
the production based on virgin raw material that consequently will not handle
returned products nor recover the value of these products (Ravi and Shankar 2005).
In general, the developing countries have an available workforce in waste picking, but the infrastructure is poor and the E-waste is handled in a primitive way
(Kumar et al. 2017). On the other hand, the European regulation on E-waste is a
pioneer and considered the basis for other countries’ policies (Restriction of Certain
Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directives).
However, Herat and Agamuthu (2012) indicate that the transfer of appropriate
technology to developing countries to manage their E-waste problem is a challenge.
For the authors, it should be undertaken, keeping in mind their economic, social and
environmental boundaries.
While Gomes et al. (2011) highlighted the main costs to be considered in the
development of reverse logistics for E-waste, freight costs, processing costs
(transportation, recycling and disposal), storage costs and non-collection costs,
which reaffirm the importance of economic issues in this context, political maturity
reveals the level of commitment to social and environmental issues. In environmental
aspects, its degradation and resources depletion are the main reasons for sustainable
choices. However, the countries’ specificities still guide the main decision making.
While African countries have the lowest E-waste generation ratio and European
countries have the highest one, the Asian countries, except for China that presents
the huge E-waste generation of the world, seem to be the intermediate points (Baldé
et al. 2017).
To sum up, Abdulrahman et al. (2014) agree that the benefits of reverse logistics,
which is an important tool for the circular economy, are not in practise in the
emerging economies, and some steps are to be achieved yet, such as the physical
structure, information technology, taxation concerns and others.
5.3 Methodological Procedures and Techniques
This chapter was elaborated based on a literature review and documental analysis
related to practices on E-waste management in developing countries. It is a
descriptive and exploratory research, with a qualitative approach.
The literature review considered papers published in the last 10 years in scientific
databases like Science Direct, Emerald, Taylor and Francis, Elsevier and Web of
5 Recycling Challenges for Electronic Consumer Products to E-Waste: A Developing…
consumers’ products requires significant investments, which are considered as
obstacles by micro and small enterprises (Yacob et al. 2012).
It is also important to emphasize that recyclers of E-waste face uncertainty in
terms of the quantity and the quality. Moreover, they must adjust their decisions
through some form of the dynamic process associated with the sources of the
E-waste (Nagurney and Toyasaki 2005). Nonetheless, company policies and
organizational structures are often obstacles, which make it difficult to change to a
sustainable vision. In the case of reverse logistics, the absence of a clear view of the
process further corroborates this increase. An example is the companies that have
the production based on virgin raw material that consequently will not handle
returned products nor recover the value of these products (Ravi and Shankar 2005).
In general, the developing countries have an available workforce in waste picking, but the infrastructure is poor and the E-waste is handled in a primitive way
(Kumar et al. 2017). On the other hand, the European regulation on E-waste is a
pioneer and considered the basis for other countries’ policies (Restriction of Certain
Hazardous Substances and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment directives).
However, Herat and Agamuthu (2012) indicate that the transfer of appropriate
technology to developing countries to manage their E-waste problem is a challenge.
For the authors, it should be undertaken, keeping in mind their economic, social and
environmental boundaries.
While Gomes et al. (2011) highlighted the main costs to be considered in the
development of reverse logistics for E-waste, freight costs, processing costs
(transportation, recycling and disposal), storage costs and non-collection costs,
which reaffirm the importance of economic issues in this context, political maturity
reveals the level of commitment to social and environmental issues. In environmental
aspects, its degradation and resources depletion are the main reasons for sustainable
choices. However, the countries’ specificities still guide the main decision making.
While African countries have the lowest E-waste generation ratio and European
countries have the highest one, the Asian countries, except for China that presents
the huge E-waste generation of the world, seem to be the intermediate points (Baldé
et al. 2017).
To sum up, Abdulrahman et al. (2014) agree that the benefits of reverse logistics,
which is an important tool for the circular economy, are not in practise in the
emerging economies, and some steps are to be achieved yet, such as the physical
structure, information technology, taxation concerns and others.
5.3 Methodological Procedures and Techniques
This chapter was elaborated based on a literature review and documental analysis
related to practices on E-waste management in developing countries. It is a
descriptive and exploratory research, with a qualitative approach.
The literature review considered papers published in the last 10 years in scientific
databases like Science Direct, Emerald, Taylor and Francis, Elsevier and Web of
5 Recycling Challenges for Electronic Consumer Products to E-Waste: A Developing…