Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques  
2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 996-937  
J. Environ. Treat. Tech.  
ISSN: 2309-1185  
Journal weblink: http://www.jett.dormaj.com  
A Life Cycle Assessment Study for Integrated  
Management of Electronic Waste  
Norazli Othman*, Shreeshivadasan Chelliapan, Roslina Mohammad and Nurul Aini  
Osman  
Department of Engineering, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya  
Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia  
Received: 18/11/2019  
Accepted: 15/02/2020  
Published: 20/05/2020  
Abstract  
An amount of 21,378,553 tonnes of electronic waste or e-waste is expected to be accumulated in Malaysia in the near 2020. To  
manage this increasing volume of solid wastes, the waste management technologies have to be further integrated. Knowledge of  
electronic waste compositions, contamination compounds in wastes, laws, guidelines and the management methods is essential to form  
a cost-effective and an environmental friendly management system. The aim of this study is to propose a technique for managing the  
electronic wastes through an integrated and holistic manner. The study proposed the use of a life cycle assessment to predict the burden  
and impacts of the integrated electronic waste management system towards the surroundings. The result of this study was obtained from  
a field study, data collection, life cycle assessment model, as well as by computer calculation development and impact analysis study.  
The findings of the study proposed that the implementation of an integrated electronic waste management must combine sustainable  
techniques for waste collection, waste sorting, materials recycling, thermal treatment and landfill methods to achieve the maximum  
system effectiveness. However, the pollution control facilities are important to be part of the sustainable technique to ensure that the  
system will produce the best management method for electronic waste. The advantages of implementing an integrated electronic waste  
management are that this system is able to contribute to the economic growth of a country and reduce the impacts of pollutants to the  
environment.  
Keywords: Waste collection, Central sorting, Recycling process, Thermal treatment, Landfill  
Introduction1  
various countries, it can be derived that electronic products  
1
with environmental-friendly designs are preferable in  
reducing the environmental impacts which exist during the  
waste management process of the products [5]. The  
characteristics of environmental-friendly products include  
products that are reusable, have durable life span, can be  
recycled, energy savers, can be disposed in an environmental  
friendly manner.  
To encourage the usage of environmental friendly  
products, the government gives a tax exemption to buyers  
upon a purchased product. Manufacturers have to tag their  
products as environmental friendly products [5]. When the  
products turn into electronic wastes, electronic products  
producers are responsible for the electronic waste  
management, whereby they have to recollect the products  
from users (extended producer response) [6]. The products  
have to be reused and recycled to reduce the volume of  
wastes at disposal sites. To dispose the wastes, the  
incineration method is able to convert wastes into energy and  
the ground burial technology can be applied. However, the  
Electronic products are one of the most important needs  
in today's society. Technological advances have made  
electronic products to be constantly changing.  
Fundamentally, technological and lifestyle advances are  
factors that influence the replacement of old electronic  
products with new ones. This scenario contributes to  
increase in electronic waste accumulation. Electronic wastes  
contain high toxic compounds that are able to pollute the  
environment [1]. The toxic constituents are heavy metals  
(cadmium, lead, chromium, mercury, plumbum, arsenic, and  
selenium), precious metals like silver, gold, copper and  
platinum [2] and organic chemical compounds, i.e., flame  
retardant, including plastic resins polyvinyl chloride [3].  
Electronic waste management has become a global issue  
and the difference in technology and expert factors has led  
to difference in waste management methods. However,  
studies on management methods and technological  
applications by other countries can be set as guidelines to  
select the suitable techniques for local adaptation [4]. From  
the accepted techniques in managing electronic waste from  
Corresponding author: Norazli Othman, Department of Engineering, Razak Faculty of Technology and Informatics, Universiti  
Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. E-mail: norazli.kl@utm.my.  
6
69  
Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques  
2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 996-937  
environmental effects have to be considered when disposing  
the wastes.  
waste management is to offer maximum benefits to the  
environment, optimise the economy as well as to be accepted  
by the society; hence, an integrated approach in managing  
electronic wastes from the point of accumulation to the point  
of disposal.  
In Malaysia, the Ministry of Housing and Local  
Government is responsible for assisting the preparation of  
jurisdictions and guidelines related to solid waste  
management as procedures for the state government and  
local authorities. The Department of Environment has a role  
in controlling environmental pollution which originates from  
such activities. In Malaysia, the Department of Environment  
is an organisation has responsibilities towards environmental  
issues. The department is accountable for the observations of  
jurisdictions to safeguard the country’s environment from  
being polluted. Therefore, all industrial premises have to  
comply with the acts and guidelines set for managing  
industrial wastes. Electronic waste includes categories listed  
in the First Scheduled of Environmental Quality (scheduled  
waste) Regulations 2005[7]. Based on the stated regulation,  
the control of hazardous waste is based on the cradle-to-  
grave concept, whereby waste generated, storage,  
transportation, treatment and disposal are regulated. The key  
provision under the regulations is the control of waste  
generated by the notification system, licensing of hazardous  
waste recovery facilities, treatment and disposal of  
hazardous waste at prescribed premises and implementation  
of manifest system for tracking and controlling the  
movement of wastes [8].  
The lifecycle assessment technique can be used to  
predict burden and impacts towards the surroundings from  
beginning until the end of management system. If electronic  
wastes are disposed or recycled without proper supervision,  
its impacts on the environment and human health are  
predictable. For that reason, this paper is to introduce the  
integrated concept for managing electronic waste. To  
achieve a sustainable management concept, conducting a life  
cycle assessment of the integrated system for electronic  
waste management is essential to predict the environment  
and economic impact of the system. Life-cycle assessment is  
the best technique that can be used to analyse the selection  
of a solid waste management technology that practises the  
integrated approach. The technique can produce data for  
predicting the environmental effects that exist due to  
activities generated by the integrated solid waste  
management  
2
Methodology  
The methodology is divided into five, i.e. field study, data  
collection, life cycle assessment (LCA) model development,  
computer calculation development and impact analysis  
study. The field study will list waste component facilities in  
the study area, such as waste collection, central sorting,  
recycling plant, thermal treatment plant and landfill disposal  
site. Data collection is where the input and output of waste  
facilities component system is obtained. It is normally done  
by listing the life cycle inventory for each waste component  
facility. The LCA model is design by considering the applied  
waste management concept, including selection of a suitable  
technology as a sub-system for a chosen system. The  
computer calculation model is built by using excel  
spreadsheet as the database. The impact analysis will be  
carried out based on the result obtained from the database.  
Then result will be interpreted and evaluated.  
In this study, the input of the system was 700 tonnes/day  
of electronic waste. Other inputs such as raw materials,  
energy (petrol and diesel usage) for transportation activities  
and electrical energy for processing activities are stated in  
Table 1 and Table 2. The outputs of the system are recovery  
materials, such as secondary raw materials and energy and  
emission due to processing and transportation activities, as  
stated in Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5.  
An effective solid waste management system has to be  
environmental-friendly  
and  
economic-friendly.  
Environmental-friendly management characteristic means  
that it can minimise the management system impacts on the  
energy usage, including land, sea and air pollutions [9].  
Economic-friendly management characteristic means that it  
can be operationalised at an accepted cost by the society [9].  
To achieve an environmental-friendly management pattern,  
integrated solid waste management has to be implemented.  
The system has to be integrated towards its waste  
compounds, waste sources, collection methods and  
treatment methods.  
This integrated approach will reduce disposal site  
burdens and open an opportunity for a new technology to  
manage solid wastes [10]. The eco-effective solution will  
generate an optimal balance between the environment and  
economic cost impacts from the initial production to disposal  
[
11]. To implement the above mentioned proposal, the  
authorities have to acquire a comprehensive central data of  
the accumulated solid waste quality and quantity in Malaysia  
[
11]. The central data has to encompass solid waste  
composition analyses, such as the vicinity analysis, final  
analysis and analysis to identify waste calorie values that act  
as fuel energy. This data is helpful in designing modified  
solid waste plants [12].  
3
Result  
Table 1 and Table 2 summarise the input data, such as  
The proper waste management is not possible without  
having the proper awareness and knowledge in waste  
management [13]. For developing an integrated electronic  
waste management approach, the integrated system has to  
combine waste collection, waste sorting, materials recycling,  
thermal treatment, ground burial disposal and pollution  
control methods. The combination of management selection  
plays an important role in ensuring the maximum  
effectiveness of the integrated waste management system.  
Basically, the aim of developing an integrated electronic  
fuel usage for transportation activities as well as water and  
energy usage for processing activities in the integrated  
technology option. Table 3, Table 4 and Table 5 summarise  
the output data, such as emission from the processing  
activities and transportation activities, as well as secondary  
raw materials and energy recovery from the integrated  
technology option. Referring to Table 1, prediction of the  
fuel usage for transportation activities are 1184.7 litres per  
day for diesel usage and 31.5 litres per day for petrol usage.  
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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques  
2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 996-937  
In this option, the route of waste transportation activities was  
from source of produced electronic wastes, such as  
residential, commercial and industrial premises direct to the  
central sorting plant. Then, the electronic wastes will be sent  
to the recycling plant and thermal treatment plant. Residuals  
from central sorting facilities, recycling plant and thermal  
treatment plant as well as from effluent treatment plant will  
be sent to the landfill site for ultimate disposal. In Table 2,  
the prediction of total electricity usage for processing  
activities at central sorting, recycling plant, thermal  
treatment plant as well as effluent treatment plants is 318.15  
MW per day, while the total water usage at stated plants is  
produced by waste transportation activities from the central  
sorting facilities to recycling plant, RDF power plant and  
disposal site as well as electricity usage at stated plants,  
including effluent treatment plants, were 333.82 kg, in which  
330.0 kg was air emission and 3.82 kg was water emission.  
Table 3: Emission from the transportation in the integrated  
electronic waste management system  
Transportation  
Sub-system  
Water  
22.44kg  
2.31kg  
1.0kg  
0.45kg  
0
Air  
Waste collection  
Central sorting  
Recycling process  
Thermal treatment  
Non-hazardous landfill  
Hazardous Landfill  
ETP 1  
327.15kg  
50.13kg  
236.9kg  
14.5kg  
0
9
,652.9 tonnes per day. The diesel usage for processing  
activities at landfill site is 414.06 litres per day, of which 284  
litres of diesel usage per day is at secured landfill and 130.06  
litres of diesel usage per day is at sanitary landfill.  
0
0
Table 1: Fuel Energy usage for transportation activities in  
the integrated electronic waste management system  
Transportation  
0.06 kg  
0
28.2 kg  
0.1 kg  
0.2 kg  
ETP 2  
Sub-system  
Petrol  
Diesel  
ETP 3  
0
Waste collection  
Central sorting  
Recycling process  
Thermal treatment  
Non-hazardous landfill  
Hazardous Landfill  
TOTAL  
31.5litres/day  
1,030.56litres/day  
107.92litres/day  
25.52liters/day  
20.7litres/day  
0
26.26 kg 657.18kg  
pollutant pollutant  
TOTAL  
0
0
Referring to Table 4 and Table 5, the generated  
calculation found that emission produced from the  
processing activities at the central sorting was water  
emission from washing activities, i.e. 7.0 tonnes of washing  
water per day. The residual produced from central sorting  
facilities was 70.0 tonnes per day. From the calculation, the  
recovery materials, such as plastics, ferrous metal and non-  
ferrous metal, woods, glass as well as bulky waste that were  
produced by the central sorting facilities were 490 tonnes per  
day, while the source of energy in the form of RDF pellets  
was 140 tonnes per day. The emission produced from  
processing activities at the recycling plant was water  
emission from washing activities, i.e. 8,820 tonnes of  
washing water per day. From the calculation, the residual  
produced from recycling plant was 17.8 tonnes per day,  
while the secondary raw materials produced at the recycling  
plant were 472.2 tonnes per day. The generated calculation  
found that the emission produced from the processing  
activities at the thermal treatment plant consists of air  
0
0
0
0
31.5 litres/day  
1,184.7Litres/day  
Table 2: Water and Energy usage for processing activates  
in the integrated electronic waste management system  
Processing  
Sub-  
system  
Water  
Electricity  
0
Diesel  
0
Waste  
Collection  
Central  
0
7
tonnes/day  
21MW/day  
0
0
0
Sorting  
Recycling  
process  
Thermal  
Treatment  
Non-  
8820  
tonnes/day  
825.9  
2
1
86.7MW/day  
0.1 MW/day  
tonnes/day  
3
emission of 1,155.5 g/Nm per day, and residuals of 15.8  
hazardous  
landfill  
Hazardous  
Landfill  
0
0
0
130.06litres/day  
tonnes per day. The produced recovery material, i.e.  
electrical energy is 123.96 MW per day from the RDF power  
plant. The generated calculation found that the emissions  
produced from the landfill activities at the non-hazardous  
landfill sites are 40.2 kg of air emission and 2.75 kg of water  
emission. From the calculation, the processing activities at  
0
3
284litres/day  
0
5.31  
ETP 1  
MW/day  
ETP 2  
ETP 3  
0.11 MW/day  
0
0
3
0.24 MW/day  
the non-hazardous landfill sites will produce 104,474 m of  
9
,652.9  
318.15  
MW/day  
414.06  
litres/day  
landfill gas per day and 27.1 tonnes of leachate per day. The  
prediction of the emissions produced from landfill activities  
at the hazardous landfill site were 88 kg of air emission and  
6 kg of water emission. From the calculation, the processing  
activities at the non-hazardous landfill site will produce  
TOTAL  
tonnes/day  
Briefly, from Table 3 the generated calculation found  
that 349.59 kg of the emission were produced by  
transportation activities from the accumulation areas to the  
central sorting, in which 327.15 kg from the emission was  
air emission and 22.44 kg was water emission. From Table  
3
228,119 m of landfill gas per day and 59.14 tonnes of  
leachate per day.  
3
, the generated calculation found that the emission  
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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques  
2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 996-937  
Table 4. Emission from the processing activities in the integrated electronic waste management system  
Processing  
Sub-system  
Water  
Air  
0
Residual waste  
0
Waste Collection  
Central Sorting  
0
7.0tonnes/day  
8,820tonnes/day  
0
0
70.0tonnes/day  
17.8tonnes/day  
15.8tonnes/day  
0
Recycling process  
Thermal Treatment  
0
3
1,155.5g/Nm .day  
3
Non-hazardous landfill 2.75 kg and 27.1tonnes/day  
40.2 kg and 104474 m /day  
6
5
.0 kg and  
9.14 tonnes/day  
3
Hazardous Landfill  
88 kg and 228,119 m /day  
0
ETP 1  
ETP 2  
ETP 3  
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.05tonnes/day  
0.12tonnes/day  
0
8
.75 kg pollutant and  
103.77 tonnes/day  
electronic waste to  
be landfill  
3
28 kg pollutant, 1,155.5 g/Nm .day air  
3
1
TOTAL  
9,082.2tonnes/day leachate and washing  
wastewater  
pollutants and 163,617 m /day landfill gas  
reduction of world’s energy source and raw materials. In  
addition, the existing pollution control systems, such as  
pollutant eliminators in gasses, effluent treatment plant and  
secured landfills, are able to reduce the pollutants in the  
environment. In general, global warming primarily caused  
by increases in greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide  
For effluent treatment plants, the generated calculation  
found that the sludge waste produced from the effluent  
treatment plants, i.e. effluent treatment Plant 1 (ETP1),  
effluent treatment Plant 2 (ETP2) and effluent treatment  
Plant 3 (ETP3) were 0.17 tonnes per day.  
(
CO ), nitrous oxide (NO), Sulphur dioxide (SO ) hydrogen  
2
2
Table 5. Recovery material in the integrated electronic waste  
management system  
and other gases [14].  
Basically, the pollution control that resulted from the  
waste management activities can be divided into three,  
namely air pollution control, water pollution control and  
residual disposal control. The air pollution control system  
acts as a pollutant eliminator of gasses before they are  
released into the air. The wastewater treatment plant acts as  
a water pollution control system for wastewater which  
resulted from managing waste activities, such as leachate  
and washing wastewater. As for the control of residual  
disposals at disposal sites, it is done by disposing the  
residuals at sanitary disposal sites for non-hazardous  
residuals, while the hazardous residuals will have to be  
initially modified before being disposed at secured landfill  
sites [10].  
Recovery material  
Secondary raw  
Sub-system  
material  
Energy  
Waste collection  
Central sorting  
0
0
1
40tonnes/day RDF  
490tonnes/day  
pellet  
Recycling process  
Thermal treatment  
472.2tonnes/day  
0
0
123.96MW/day  
Non-hazardous  
landfill  
0
0
0
Hazardous Landfill  
0
1
40tonnes/day  
4
72.2tonnes/day Refuse derived fuel  
TOTAL  
secondary raw  
materials  
(RDF) that produce  
123.96MW/day  
electricity  
5
Conclusions  
The best management system has to be successful in  
overcoming issues related to the electronic waste  
management and in overcoming the problems of pollution  
and the lack of the world’s natural resources, such as the  
resources for natural fuel and raw materials. The integrated  
electronic waste management technique is suggested as one  
of the best management practice (BMPs) to handle electronic  
wastes in a sustainable manner. In order for HRM function  
to stay relevant for the years to come, current evolutionary  
changes will need to make way for a more transformative or  
disruptive revolution. This study indicates that HRM  
function in BankCo is moving in the right direction, although  
more requirements are still to be met. To be transformative,  
a true HRM transformation needs to be integrated and  
aligned with a business-focused approach to reinventing the  
way HRM delivers its services and practices to its key  
stakeholders. Therefore, the role of HRM function in helping  
organizations to become more sustainable can be  
3
Discussion  
The environmental effect analysis found that the  
integrated management of electronic waste was able to solve  
issues related to the reduction of world’s raw materials and  
energy resources, as shown in Table 5. This was because the  
system was based on the concept of converting wastes into  
secondary raw materials and energy resources. Basically,  
economic increase and environmental sustainability are  
achievable based on the reduction of energy usage  
(electricity, gas, diesel or petrol), re-use of wastes as  
secondary raw materials, reproduction of energy from  
wastes, reduction of the waste total volume at disposal sites  
and reduction of pollutants in the environment. Therefore, it  
can be summarised that, the integrated system for managing  
electronic waste has given a minimum impact towards the  
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Journal of Environmental Treatment Techniques  
2020, Volume 8, Issue 2, Pages: 996-937  
demonstrated in different ways, and there is a need for a deep  
understanding about sustainable workplace environment  
practices. This requires new pattern of thought and  
behaviour, where HRM looks at how the function can  
respond, drive, and re-imagine employees’ experience using  
data and proper employee management system in improving  
workplace management effectiveness that can lead to  
business impact (21). HRM function has an inherent  
accountability to consider the broader implications of HRM  
decisions, not only on employees, but also on their families,  
the larger communities, economies, and societies in general.  
Potential areas for future academic research include a further  
exploration on the effectiveness and contribution of HRM  
functions in the digital banking transformation journey of  
banking institutions.  
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7. Environmental Quality Act and Regulations. Environmental  
Quality Act (Schedule Waste) 2005. Malaysia: MDC Publishers  
Sdn Bhd; 2013.  
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Wilson, E, McDougall, F, Willmore, J. Euro-trash: Searching  
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a more Sustainable Approach to Waste  
3
0. Othman, N, Ahmad basri, N.E, Muhd yunus, M.N, Chelliapan,  
S, Othman, N.A. Integrated Solid Waste Management System:  
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1. Othman, N, Ahmad basri, N.E, Muhd yunus, M.N, Mohd sidek,  
L, Othman, N.A. Potential of Electronic Plastic Waste as a  
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Aknowledgment  
The author wishes to express her greatest appreciation  
and utmost gratitude to the Ministry of Higher Education and  
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia for all their support in  
making the study a success. Vote: 16J53.  
Competing interests  
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest  
that would prejudice the impartiality of this scientific work.  
2. Kathiravale S, Takip, K.M, Yunus M.N.M, Samsuddin, A.H,  
Sopian, K, Rahman A.R. A Comparative Study on the  
Analytical Methods for the Characterization of Municipal Solid  
th  
Waste. The 5 Asian Symposium on Academic Activities for  
Waste Management (AAAWM); 2002.  
Ethical issue  
1
3. Kazi S. A, Shaikh M.S.R. Awareness on Medical Waste  
Management and Occupational Health Safety among the  
Employees Related to Medical Services at Upazila level in  
Bangladesh. Journal of Environmental Treatment Technique.  
Authors are aware of, and comply with, best practice in  
publication ethics specifically with regard to authorship  
(avoidance of guest authorship), dual submission,  
manipulation of figures, competing interests and compliance  
with policies on research ethics. Authors adhere to  
publication requirements that submitted work is original and  
has not been published elsewhere in any language.  
2
019; 7: 282-288.  
1
4. Abdelkarim M, Youcef A, Ahmed B. Energy Consumption  
Policy, GHG Emissions and Climate Change Impact in Algeria.  
Journal of Environmental Treatment Technique. 2019; 7: 306-  
3
15.  
Competing interests  
The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest  
that would prejudice the impartiality of this scientific work.  
Authors’ contribution  
The researchers hereby acknowledge that they had a  
complete contribution to data collection, data analyses, and  
manuscript writing in this paper.  
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