WEEE recycling in Hong Kong : a study of household attitude and behavior towards WEEE recycling

Abstract

Electrical and electronic goods production is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. More new electronic goods appear every year. If the electronic waste cannot be managed and recycled properly, more and more electrical and electronic waste (WEEE) would be generated in the future. In fact, improper WEEE treatment causes tremendous harmful effect to the environment and finally affects our health.

More effort was put in WEEE recycling worldwide. In recent years, the government, NGOs and other responsible parties worked very hard in Hong Kong WEEE recycling. However, Hong Kong is still lagging behind in terms of WEEE recycling compare with other countries. In Hong Kong, large quantities of WEEE are shipped to developing countries, which are non-ethical. Some of them would also go to landfills in Hong Kong, which causes serious land contamination. Even if the electronic waste is collected, the collectors may not follow the EPD guidelines to recycle the waste. Therefore, it is important to let people know the environmental impact of WEEE, the proper WEEE recycling channels and the importance of WEEE recycling so as to raise their awareness towards WEEE issues.

There are few research findings about household WEEE recycling in Hong Kong, especially the household attitude and behavior towards WEEE recycling. The result in this dissertation can fill this knowledge gap. In this study, questionnaires will be used to find out the WEEE generation pattern and recycling frequency in households, the prefer disposal methods for household WEEE and the household attitudes and behavior towards WEEE recycling. Besides, some WEEE recycling facilities will be visited to identify difficulties in WEEE recycling. Finally, possible ways will be suggested to tackle the difficulties of WEEE recycling.