Track: Sustainability and Green Systems

Abstract

Many developed countries rely on reverse logistics (RL) to address the increasing amount of electronic waste that causes environmental pollution. Unfortunately, many developing countries, including Indonesia, struggle to develop RL activities. In Indonesia, these activities actually cause severe environmental pollution through the inevitable informal business interactions involved. From the other side, governments in many developing countries admit that they still need informal businesses to help manage waste because of the limited number of government officials in office. Therefore, it is necessary to study the form and hierarchy of informal business interactions for sustainable RL activities, so that decision makers can determine the waste management strategy to be implemented. This study uses a descriptive survey approach and applies the snowball sampling technique in collecting data from six provinces that are centers of e-waste processing in Indonesia. Awareness, interest, desire, and actions of stakeholders, including informal business and government, are measured separately because they cater to different interests. Through the analysis, this research is expected to obtain a clear picture of the interaction level of each stakeholder in the implementation or support of sustainable reverse logistics activities. The results of the study show that informal business and government have a moderate level of awareness. They realize that RL activities can improve people's welfare and prevent environmental pollution, knowing that their business processes must strike a balance between economic development and public health. They are also aware of the risks that must be borne, in addition to the benefits they receive. However, interest and desire level of informal business to implement RL activities are low. Conversely, governments have moderate interest and desire to support RL activities. Although informal businesses have low interest in and desire to implement sustainable reverse logistics, they engage in real action such as providing e-waste bankers, creating a traditional machine to prevent direct interaction between employees and e-waste components, buying expensive technology to prevent air pollution, and willing to become freelancers for electronic manufacturers who are unable to treat e-waste in an environmentally friendly manner. In contrast, the government has a lower level of action in supporting RL activities. They do not have complete data about the existing IEBs, as important messages about preventing environmental pollution due to illegal e-waste processing do not reach these groups. They admit that they have not built an SRL governance system, provided facilities and technology, and implemented strict regulations and mechanisms due to the heavy workload from their main jobs.