Developing an Integrated Electronic Waste Management Approach in Malaysia

Abstract

Production of electronic products is one of the world’s developing industries at present. In line with this phenomenon, the accumulated electronic waste has increased as a result of increase production of electronic product. Knowledge on electronic waste compositions, contamination compounds in wastes, law, guidelines and methods of the management is essential in order to form a cost-effective and an environmental friendly management system. The aim of this study is to propose a technique to manage the electronic wastes in integrated and holistic manner. The result of this study is obtained from the observation, interview and model development. The studies propose the use of Life Cycle Assessment to predict the burden and impacts of the integrated electronic waste management system towards surroundings. The finding of the study propose that the implementation of an integrated electronic waste management has to combine sustainable technique for waste collection, waste sorting, materials recycling, thermal treatment and landfill methods in order to achieve maximum effectiveness of the system. However, the pollution control facilities are necessarily important to be part of the sustainable technique to ensure that the system will produce the best management method for electronic waste. The advantages of implementing integrated electronic waste management are this system able to contribute to the economic increase of a country and reduce the impacts of pollutants to the environment.