E-waste circularity in India: identifying and overcoming key barriers

Abstract

In last few decades, there is massive growth in electric and electronics industry which leads to a high rate of obsolesce resulting decline in end of life (EOL) or end of use of the product. Circular economy is a concept used to close the material cycle loop in product ecosystem. The current situation of developing countries like India has a variety of issues in managing the e-waste generated, and only viable answer is to reduce waste output and practice recycling. To change into circular economy, it is necessary to identify the barriers affecting the circular economy for effective e-waste management. The aim of the article is to identify the barriers affecting circular economy of e-waste with previous literature and expert opinion from industries and academia, then analyses of barriers have been done using interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and fuzzy MICMAC technique. The result shows that lack of incentives, lack of customer awareness toward circular economy, and lack of government policies are the key barriers affecting circular economy of e-waste in India. This paper will assist organizations, recycling industries, and policymakers in building a sustainable environment strategy to achieve the effective circular economy of e-waste.