Structural analysis and prioritization of e-waste management challenges in the Indian context using ISM and MICMAC methods

E-waste has become one of the critical issues to be addressed in recent years due to ecological and health-related issues. This research intends to investigate these interrelationships among barriers to e-waste management in the Indian context. An exhaustive literature review on e-waste, combined with expert opinions of industry professionals working in e-waste, has been used to shortlist barriers influencing e-waste management. To date, little research has been conducted to study e-waste management, especially from WEEE categories in the Indian context, which has motivated this research. We have used Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) for determining the interrelationships among the identified barriers of e-waste, and driving and dependence powers of barriers are examined using the MICMAC study. Results of the study indicate that ‘lack of awareness from customers and waste aggregators’ and ‘lack of regulations’ are important barriers to e-waste management in the Indian context, and they have appeared at the foundation of the ISM model. The barrier, ‘lack of performance metrics concerning e-waste management,’ has the highest dependency power. These findings indicate the structural importance of the identified barriers and may provide guidance to top management in industries and supply chain practitioners in understanding barriers to e-waste management.