Electronic waste vulnerability: circular economy as a strategic solution

Managing waste is a global challenge. Electronic wastes have been drawing the attention of the global communities in the recent past. In fact, waste management is a reactive strategy where we think about the extent of recyclability of materials to minimize environmental threats. There is a need for proactive approaches to maximize the volume of recycling of e-waste using simulation. It is possible through Business Process Reengineering and Value Engineering by augmenting appropriate modifications at the design level. Recent reports indicate that consumption of electronic goods has been rapidly increasing and the accumulation of disposable e-waste is at an alarming rate. The options before us are limited to sustain ecological balance, i.e., the product elements may go back to nature (reversibility) or ease of transformability of material to produce goods repetitively without using virgin resources from nature. Reversibility is possible in classical science but very rare in real-life situations due to constraints of feasibility and viability issues. The wide avenues for restoring sustainability solely depend on the ease of recyclability. In fact, recyclability serves the dual aspects, i.e., it leads to achieving sustainability, and at the same time, it strengthens the backbone of the economy. The latter is popularly coined as Circular Economy. This study attempts to develop a comprehensive framework for understanding the concept of recyclability and its essence and emergence in our life to address the concerns toward the environment and commitment toward economic enrichment and holistic growth.