Knowledge and Practices Regarding e-waste and its Management among Adults Living in Siliguri: A Cross-sectional Study.

Abstract

Background: India is projected to be one of the largest consumers of electronics and producers of e-waste in the world. There is a dearth of literature regarding the knowledge and practices of the general Indian population regarding e-waste. The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge and practices of the general populace of Siliguri regarding electronic waste.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among the households of Siliguri, West Bengal. Consenting adults were interviewed using the questionnaire. A multi-stage sampling strategy was employed for the study to obtain a sample of 375. A researcher-administered questionnaire was used to collect data.

Results: The mean age of the head of the household was 50.2 ± 13.6 years. Most of the households were nuclear families (56.5%), and 34.4% of them belonged to the upper middle socioeconomic class. The households possessed a median of five devices. It was seen that 93.4% knew that e-waste was harmful to their health. The commonest practice regarding the disposal of e-waste was selling these items to recyclers (47.5%). However, 29.3% of the households reported that due to them not knowing what to do with broken electronics, they stored them at home. A majority (84.8%) of the households reported that they did not use any personal protective equipment while handling e-waste.

Conclusion: While the households assessed knew about the harm of e-waste, their knowledge about e-waste disposal was varied. Furthermore, there was a knowledge-practice gap, leading to them either storing e-waste at home or having other improper handling and disposal practices.