Urban mining of e-waste management globally: Literature review

Abstract

The global generation of electronic waste (e-waste) has been increasing alarmingly, posing significant environmental and health risks. Urban mining, which involves extracting valuable resources from e-waste, has emerged as a promising solution to address these challenges and promote sustainable resource management. This study explores urban mining as a transformative practice for e-waste management, examining its alignment with sustainable development goals (SDGs) and identifying the associated challenges and opportunities. It underscores the critical importance of comprehensive regulations in effectively managing e-waste. The study aims to achieve the following specific objectives: 1) Scrutinize the state of the art of e-waste and urban mining practices, as documented in the literature; 2) Assess the relation between urban mining and circular economy; 3) Explore what kind of wastes are more explored in urban mining; 4) Examine the different case studies on urban mining; 5) Analyze data from collected documents and 6) propose a research agenda. The review synthesized 124 studies to gain insights into the effectiveness of urban mining and its potential contribution to sustainability. The findings reveal that urban mining is more frequently emphasized in the e-waste sector than in the construction sector, representing this study's essential contribution. Furthermore, the study highlights the technologies and research areas currently capturing the attention of researchers, as well as the gaps that need to be addressed in future studies. However, challenges remain, including adequate regulations, extended producer responsibility, and the inclusive participation of consumers and informal workers in urban mining. While urban mining holds significant potential to revolutionize e-waste management and contribute to sustainable resource management, realizing this potential will require robust regulatory support.