Modelling the Barriers to Circular Economy Practices in the Indian State of Tamil Nadu in Managing E-Wastes to Achieve Green Environment

T. Mahanth, C. R. Suryasekaran, S. G. Ponnambalam (), Bathrinath Sankaranarayanan, Koppiahraj Karuppiah and Izabela Ewa Nielsen
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T. Mahanth: School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India
C. R. Suryasekaran: School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India
S. G. Ponnambalam: School of Mechanical Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore 632014, India
Bathrinath Sankaranarayanan: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kalasalingam Academy of Research and Education, Krishnankoil 626126, India
Koppiahraj Karuppiah: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Saveetha School of Engineering, SIMATS, Chennai 602105, India
Izabela Ewa Nielsen: Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Aalborg University, 9220 Aalborg, Denmark

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 5, 1-15

Abstract: Owing to a heightened necessity, the consumption rate of electronic items has increased exponentially in recent decades, resulting in huge quantities of electronic waste (e-waste). Though increasing e-waste has many adverse impacts, it also provides an ample opportunity of recover value from the waste through circular economy (CE) practices. However, the adoption to CE practices is jeopardised by myriad barriers. This paper wishes to identify and evaluate the barriers that hamper CE practices in e-waste management. First, 30 barriers to the adoption of CE practices in India e-waste management are identified by reviewing the existing literature and conformed using experts’ inputs. Furthermore, based on the experts’ opinion, the thirty barriers are categorised into social, economic, and environmental categories. An integrated multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework of fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratories (FDEMATEL) and fuzzy analytic network processes (FANP) is employed to understand the causal interrelationship and also to rank the barriers. Uncertainty about the profitability of the circular economy (E9), insufficient market demand (E6), lack of successful circular business model (E5), shortage of high-quality recycling materials (E4), and lack of adequate technology (EN6) have been identified as the top five barriers to the incorporation of CE practice in e-waste management. Out of these 30 barriers, 12 come under the cause group and 18 come under the effect group. Understanding the causal interrelationship and prioritization of barriers provide better insight into the barriers. This study offers some managerial implications that could assist industrial practitioners and policymakers.

Keywords: circular economy; e-waste management; FDEMATEL; FANP; barriers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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