Environmental and health hazards associated with poor electronic-waste management: Knowledge gaps among electronic consumers in Zambia

Purpose: This paper explores electronic (e) waste, its associated environmental and health hazards, and the perspectives of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) consumers in Zambia. It uses the theory of planned behaviour and Capability approach to establish the interlinkedness between EEE consumers’ knowledge of e-waste hazards and their e-waste management practices. This stems from a growing concern on poor e-waste management for developing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. E-waste is ranked the most rapidly expanding solid waste stream globally, growing three times faster than the world's population. The 2024 Global E-waste Monitor report estimates that around 20 to 50 million metric tons of e-waste are produced worldwide, annually. E-waste has been on the rise due to modern society's increased use and dependence on electrical and electronic equipment. This happens when an electrical and electronic device reaches its end of life cycle, quickly becoming obsolete. If improperly managed, recycled or disposed, e-waste presents irreversible environmental and health consequences. In Zambia, the desire for cutting-edge technology, mostly imported from the West, but met with inadequate e-waste handling facilities is skyrocketing. This paper argues that a persistence in e-waste knowledge gaps and inadequate e-waste management mechanisms, result in poor e-waste management, thereby compromising environmental and human wellbeing.