Awareness and Attitudes of Small-Scale Information Technology Business Operators in Lagos, Nigeria Toward E-Waste Hazards

ABSTRACT

Electronic waste, consisting of fairly used and unusable electronic and electrical equipment, is the fastest growing solid waste in the world, and it contains substances that are toxic to human health and the environment. Businesses anchored on e-waste thrive in Lagos, Nigeria, and many studies have examined the hazards caused by e-waste, but none of the studies examined the awareness and attitudes of the e-waste dealers toward the health hazards of the waste they generate. The aim of this study is to examine the awareness and attitudes of e-waste dealers in Lagos, Nigeria toward the health hazards of e-waste, understand the factors influencing their behavior, and the likelihood that they will embrace adequate e-waste management practices as well as how these variables are related to their socio-demographic characteristics. The study is guided by the Theory of Reason Action. Data was collected from 823 e-waste dealers in Lagos State using a questionnaire. Data analysis was guided by binary logistic regression. The e-waste dealers are aware about the health hazards of their goods and are willing to adopt adequate behavior toward managing them. However, they would be willing to co-operate with the Lagos State government in this regard more than they would with their trade association or federal government agencies. The negative attitude of the e-waste dealers toward e-waste, despite their high level of awareness about e-waste hazard, is a very significant observation. The Lagos State government should lead mass awareness programs encompassing all the stakeholders of e-waste.

KEYWORDS:

• Electronic waste
• e-waste
• Lagos
• Nigeria

Notes

¹ At the exchange rate of 1USD = N160.00 as of March 27, 2015.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Williams Nwagwu

Williams Nwagwu is a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Information Science, University of South Africa, and a lecturer at the Africa Regional Centre for Information Science. He is on a leave of absence at the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa based in Dakar, Senegal. He is an information scientist with specialty in information behavior, infometrics, and scholarly communication/publishing.

Margaret Okuneye

Margaret Okuneye completed her Master's Dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Nwagwu.