Making the invisible count: Factors influencing small e‐waste recycling intentions in the age of rapid electronics consumption

Abstract

AbstractThe extent of e‐waste is exponentially rising as the lifetime usage of electrical and electronic device items is getting shorter. In particular, household waste comprising small electrical and electronic items (small e‐waste) is becoming an emerging yet substantive category of e‐waste globally. Small e‐waste is becoming a growing concern because of its presence across households, smaller size, stockpiling behaviour, improper disposal and inefficient management. Thus, it becomes interesting and worth examining to study the behavioural intention towards management of the small e‐waste. This is more so in India given the contextual reality that India is the most populous and one of the fastest growing economies. In order to explore the phenomenon, the current study extends the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to empirically investigate the residents’ attitudes, intentions and behaviours, along with the extrinsic factors such as producers and government's intervention towards recycling of small e‐waste. The main findings point out that attitude, subjective norms, producers intervention and perceived data security have significant positive influence on residents’ intention to recycle small e‐waste. The study would make theoretical contribution to the literature on TPB. Furthermore, contribution would be made regarding the practical aspects of extended producer responsibility. This occurs because of identifying the significant factors influencing Indian residents’ small e‐waste recycling behavioural intention.