E-waste Collection and Recycling Behaviours: An Agent-Based Model for Intervention Assessment in Singapore

Electronic waste (E-waste) is one of the fastest growing waste streams in the world. Despite the significant environmental and economic value of recycling e-wastes, its recovery rate is still below expectation. Singapore is facing the same challenge, while little efforts have been devoted to the systematic analysis of e-waste collection and recycling. To address the problem, this paper develops an Agent-Based Model (ABM) to simulate the e-waste recycling behaviour in a municipal level, considering various types of e-waste collection channels available in the country. Two primary objectives are reducing the retention time of e-wastes at home and increasing the overall e-waste recycling rate. We conduct extensive experiments to analyse the impact of two interventional strategies, namely, Nearest Recycling Sites Assignment and Recycling Information Campaign. The experiment results reveal the importance of convenience associated with proximity and the dissemination of knowledge in shaping e-waste recycling behaviours. The model enables a quantitative analysis of potential interventions, providing actionable insights for policymakers and various stakeholders to promote sustainability practices.