Comprehending e-waste limited collection and recycling issues in Europe: A comparison of causes

In today's technological age, the issue of e-waste management is becoming increasingly critical. Although several studies have detected and proposed innovative technologies to both enable and increase e-waste recycling performance, end users often dispose of obsolete products inappropriately. The present work aimed at investigating the criteria that influence user behavior regarding e-waste recycling, starting from seven criteria (i.e., intention to recycle e-waste, awareness of the importance of e-waste recycling, environmental concern, attitudes towards e-waste recycling, subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, WTP for e-waste recycling) identified in the literature as most relevant. A questionnaire administered to students, interviews of academic experts, and several analytical techniques (i.e., descriptive statistics, the analytic hierarchy process, econometric regression) were used to identify the most relevant criteria for e-waste recycling. With willingness to pay (WTP) used as a reference criterion, the remaining six criteria were investigated as variables, with the aim of uncovering the relations among them and determining which had the most significant impact on WTP. The results revealed that individuals with strong pro-social attitudes were more aware of the need to recycle e-waste. Furthermore, those who disposed of waste correctly in specialized centers were more aware of the need to recycle. The study highlights the importance of raising awareness at a group level to promote e-waste disposal as a social norm.