Cargando…

Consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu: A mixed-method approach

BACKGROUND: The increased use of electronic devices has caused a rise in the generation of e-waste, which is detrimental to the environment and human health. This study aimed to assess consumer awareness, perception, and disposal methods of e-waste management and its determinants in a semi-urban are...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Nisha, Boopathy, Shajil, Shikha, Dutta, Ruma, Jain, Timsi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9221227/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35754756
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/jfcm.jfcm_318_21
_version_ 1784732568726274048
author Nisha, Boopathy
Shajil, Shikha
Dutta, Ruma
Jain, Timsi
author_facet Nisha, Boopathy
Shajil, Shikha
Dutta, Ruma
Jain, Timsi
author_sort Nisha, Boopathy
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: The increased use of electronic devices has caused a rise in the generation of e-waste, which is detrimental to the environment and human health. This study aimed to assess consumer awareness, perception, and disposal methods of e-waste management and its determinants in a semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a mixed-method approach using a sequential explanatory technique with both quantitative and qualitative methods in adult e-consumers. Quantitative data were collected from 350 participants selected via simple random sampling using score-based semi-structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were obtained purposely from eight selected consumers such as recyclers, local leaders, and importers of electronics using key informant interviews. Sociodemographic details and disposal practices were summarized as frequencies and percentages. The independent t-test and linear regression analysis were used to obtain the determinants. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. RESULTS: Of the 350 participants (208 males and 142 females), the majority (76%), had good knowledge of e-waste management. Consumers (70%) predominantly had a positive perception. Selling e-wastes to scrap dealers (35%) and disposing of household wastes (21%) were common disposal methods. Male gender, higher education (≥10(th) grade), and skilled and professional workers were significant determining factors of good knowledge and positive perception toward e-waste management. CONCLUSION: There is a need for those in authority to pay special attention to sensitizing the public to the disposal of e-waste practices, ill effects of e-wastes, segregation at collection sites, legislations and laws on e-waste to consumers, and the establishment of disposal sites.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9221227
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher Wolters Kluwer - Medknow
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-92212272022-06-24 Consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu: A mixed-method approach Nisha, Boopathy Shajil, Shikha Dutta, Ruma Jain, Timsi J Family Community Med Original Article BACKGROUND: The increased use of electronic devices has caused a rise in the generation of e-waste, which is detrimental to the environment and human health. This study aimed to assess consumer awareness, perception, and disposal methods of e-waste management and its determinants in a semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a mixed-method approach using a sequential explanatory technique with both quantitative and qualitative methods in adult e-consumers. Quantitative data were collected from 350 participants selected via simple random sampling using score-based semi-structured questionnaire. Qualitative data were obtained purposely from eight selected consumers such as recyclers, local leaders, and importers of electronics using key informant interviews. Sociodemographic details and disposal practices were summarized as frequencies and percentages. The independent t-test and linear regression analysis were used to obtain the determinants. Qualitative data were analyzed thematically. RESULTS: Of the 350 participants (208 males and 142 females), the majority (76%), had good knowledge of e-waste management. Consumers (70%) predominantly had a positive perception. Selling e-wastes to scrap dealers (35%) and disposing of household wastes (21%) were common disposal methods. Male gender, higher education (≥10(th) grade), and skilled and professional workers were significant determining factors of good knowledge and positive perception toward e-waste management. CONCLUSION: There is a need for those in authority to pay special attention to sensitizing the public to the disposal of e-waste practices, ill effects of e-wastes, segregation at collection sites, legislations and laws on e-waste to consumers, and the establishment of disposal sites. Wolters Kluwer - Medknow 2022 2022-05-13 /pmc/articles/PMC9221227/ /pubmed/35754756 http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/jfcm.jfcm_318_21 Text en Copyright: © 2022 Journal of Family and Community Medicine https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/This is an open access journal, and articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as appropriate credit is given and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.
spellingShingle Original Article
Nisha, Boopathy
Shajil, Shikha
Dutta, Ruma
Jain, Timsi
Consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu: A mixed-method approach
title Consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu: A mixed-method approach
title_full Consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu: A mixed-method approach
title_fullStr Consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu: A mixed-method approach
title_full_unstemmed Consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu: A mixed-method approach
title_short Consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern Tamil Nadu: A mixed-method approach
title_sort consumer awareness and perceptions about e-waste management in semi-urban area of northern tamil nadu: a mixed-method approach
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9221227/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35754756
http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/jfcm.jfcm_318_21
work_keys_str_mv AT nishaboopathy consumerawarenessandperceptionsaboutewastemanagementinsemiurbanareaofnortherntamilnaduamixedmethodapproach
AT shajilshikha consumerawarenessandperceptionsaboutewastemanagementinsemiurbanareaofnortherntamilnaduamixedmethodapproach
AT duttaruma consumerawarenessandperceptionsaboutewastemanagementinsemiurbanareaofnortherntamilnaduamixedmethodapproach
AT jaintimsi consumerawarenessandperceptionsaboutewastemanagementinsemiurbanareaofnortherntamilnaduamixedmethodapproach