Date of Conferral

2022

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Information Systems and Technology

Advisor

Nikunja K. Swain

Abstract

AbstractApproximately 60,000 tons of e-waste from new, secondhand, or used electrical electronics equipment/devices (UEEEDs) are disposed off at the end of their shelf life annually in Lagos, Nigeria. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand better how secondhand or UEEED e-waste was efficiently managed or recycled without resulting in environmental concerns. The study’s conceptual framework was based on Machiavellian and transactional conceptual theories. The research question focused on what influences the choice of management and recycling of electronic devices. Data were collected from 28 participants through semistructured interviews with 8 business owners and 20 focus group UEEED users. Data analysis was through thematic content analysis, and ethnography. The prevailing themes findings of the study showed that 10,000 tons of e-waste from pocket PCs, laptops, computers, and household electrical appliances, were generated weekly, amounting to 120,000 tons yearly in Lagos from Alaba International Market and Ikeja Computer Village. This number had tripled yearly compared to previous studies in Nigeria in the past 5 years due to a lack of national e-waste policy and stringent enforcement, management, and product quality monitoring by regulatory bodies in Nigeria. The result indicated that a gap in e-waste generation, management, and recycling had social and economic implications for the unabating e-waste generation from UEEED, as the United Nations pointed out. The social implications for positive change are the precursors for efficient management and recycling of e-waste from UEEED and to assuage global and local concerns highlighted by WHO in preventing the possible longterm and negative biological consequences on the ecosystem and humanity.

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