E-Waste Management Practices through the Eyes of Responsible Departments at Malaysian Public Universities

Abstract

Electronic and electrical waste (E-waste) has been identified as the fastest-growing waste stream in the world. In Malaysia, forecasts indicate that it will soon reach 24.5 million units of e-waste by the year 2025. Today, higher learning institutions also contribute to the rapidly growing threat of e-waste. Besides mobile phones, the usage of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) equipment at universities keeps increasing and contributes to the increased quantity of e-waste, while the handling and disposal methods of e-waste still need to be improved. The purpose of this paper is to examine the current e-waste management system as well as to investigate the critical challenges constraining e-waste management at public universities in Malaysia. By using a qualitative approach, a number of interview sessions have been conducted with the responsible departments at six established public universities in Malaysia. It has been found that currently only e-waste generated from used electric and electronic equipment (EEE) which have been declared as university assets are being managed by the responsible departments at the six universities. All six universities are using the standard process of handling their e-waste since every single process needs to comply with the requirements of the Ministry of Finance (MOF). This remains the main constraint to flexibility or improvement of the current system. The universities are also facing some challenges, among others, lack of awareness and knowledge on how to properly handle e-waste among university citizens, no clear sustainable policy at the university, lack of facilities within the university compound to support the proper practice of e-waste disposal as well as lack of education and related training provided to the campus citizens. This paper also provides some recommendations for the improvement of e-waste management towards sustainability and offers an agenda for future research.