Material flow analysis (MFA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) of e-waste management system in Malaysia

Abstract

With the increasing amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment (e-waste) generation and the complexity in e-waste management, the development of sustainable e-waste management is becoming indispensable. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the e-waste management practices in Malaysia from its generation until the final disposal, with the intention to provide some recommendations on future research agenda for the development of sustainable e-waste management system in Malaysia in line with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To begin with, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted by utilizing a content analysis (CA) on primary studies in evaluation of e-waste generation and performance of e-waste management system with aims to identify the best method to utilize in each research question and objective developed in this study. Firstly, the study evaluated the e-waste generation in Malaysia by utilizing the input output analysis (IOA). The results showed that the trend of e-waste generation in Malaysia was increasing over the years. Secondly, the study investigated the current status of e-waste management system in Malaysia. Besides uncovering the current regulations and infrastructure available in relation to e-waste management, the study utilized the input output analysis (IOA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) to evaluate the potential benefits of proper e-waste recycling in Malaysia. The results showed that there were several regulations and infrastructure improvement in relation to e-waste management, where currently e-waste management system in Malaysia is more comprehensive and ranges from e-waste generation, to collection and transportation, until its final disposal. In addition, the study found that there were various potential environmental benefits from various environmental aspects could be gained, if e-waste were recycled properly. Finally, the study investigated the best method to manage e-waste in Malaysia by comparing the current e-waste management system to several management alternatives, namely landfill, direct incineration, and materials recovery without energy recovery. The integration of life cycle assessment (LCA) and material flow analysis (MFA) was utilized and two performance indicators – waste reduction rate (WRR) and environmental cost and benefit rate (eCBR) – were developed to assist the interpretation of the analysis results. The study found that the results were contradictory to the initial expectation, where the performance of direct incineration method was better than the current e-waste management system as the direct incineration method has greatest value of eCBR and the least number of positive net environmental impact categories, and therefore, this alternative management has the potential to improve the environmental performance of current e-waste management system in Malaysia. Based on the analysis results above, some limitations of the study were identified with several future research were suggested. Ultimately, three future research agendas were recommended to foster the development of sustainable e-waste management system in Malaysia: (1) development of national inventory for e-waste generation, (2) development of national life cycle inventory (LCI) for e-waste management system, and (3) development of sustainable e-waste collection and transportation system. Overall, a quadruple helix approach with the government intervention and support are desirable to enhance the cooperation between academicians, industrial experts and community in various research in managing complex e-waste management system in order to foster the development of sustainable e-waste management system in Malaysia.