Proposing Circular Economy for Enhancing the e-Waste Recycling in Turkiye

Abstract

Wastes from electrical and electronics equipment (WEEE), also referred to as e-waste, contain high-value of precious metals. Yet WEEE has huge adverse environmental threats and health hazards. Several literatures have examined the adverse effects of WEEE, and few have proposed remedial measures for mitigating these e-waste risks. The measures have focused on recycling the precious metals within e-waste back into the economy. These studies have, however, acknowledged that the current recycling processes tend to be costly, and their results are not viable for the economy. The present study proposes a shift in recycling from a linear to a circular economy in Turkiye. It has adopted a qualitative method in the form of interviews with 13 experts on the subject. The major findings of the study show that: 1) Turkiye lacks the efficiency, proper planning, and adequate law related to e-waste management; 2) The legal regulations related to WEEE management are stale and undeveloped, 3) Recycling in Turkiye is underdeveloped. This study provides valuable information for future research on the factors that will help to improve recycling in Turkiye.

Keywords

• e-waste
• weee
• recycling
• circular economy
• turkiye
• environmental threats
• health hazard