Economic and environmental benefits of e-waste management networks design in Yogyakarta province, Indonesia

Abstract

Purpose: Electronic devices consumption, especially smartphones for communication, have increased significantly, causing the potential for electronic waste to increase too. However, the high potential of this flow has not been matched by good waste management. This study aims to develop a management network for e-waste that collaborates formal and informal channels to provide optimal supply chain benefits in terms of economic and environmental aspects

Design/methodology/approach: This research designs an e-waste management network followed by building a single-objective mathematical model that considers economic and environmental aspects. This model was solved using Mixed Integer Linear Programming.

Findings: The supply chain will benefit from the proposed management network by collaborating formal and informal channels. With an incentive of 10,000 IDR, it is hoped that it will be able to invite consumers and informal collectors to collect waste informal channels. The total profit from managing electronic waste supply every month from Yogyakarta Province is 5.529 x 10¹⁰ IDR with the composition, consumers 81.2%, informal 13.3% channel obtained from informal collectors and repairing centers and 2.1% for formal channels, and there is an intangible profit of 3.4%. The formal channel provides more significant benefits than the informal, but requires a significant investment. This formal channel feasible if at least 33% of the total supply goes to this channel.

Research limitations/implications: The model designed is deterministic. Therefore, it can be developed into a probabilistic model for further research to represent more real cases in the field.

Practical implications: Regulation is the factor that most influences consumers' intentions and behavior to participate in e-waste management programs. It will be able to change consumer behavior by forcing consumers to participate in e-waste collection programs. Therefore, a government regulation is needed that organizes and supervises the implementation of the proposed management model.

Social implications: Currently, the practice developing in the community is that the informal sector carries out smartphone waste management, therefore in the designs made, informal actors are still given space in waste management for the repair process and the secondhand market. Meanwhile, further processing, such as recycling, must be carried out through formal channels taking into account the environmental impact.

Originality/value: Few studies have developed an electronic waste management model by collaborating informal and formal channels that consider economic and environmental aspects, and its implementation is organized and supervised by government regulations.