Electronic waste recycling after floods in Jakarta and New Orleans

Due to climate change, flood-related disasters are expected to increase. Floods generate enormous amounts of waste, including electronic waste (e-waste). E-waste should be recovered not only because it can have detrimental effects on human health and the environment but also because of the valuable metals contained in it.

In this study, a system dynamics model based on current practices and waste management was established using Vensim to determine the revenue that can be generated by e-waste recycling after floods in two socio-geographic and economic contexts: Jakarta and New Orleans. At current recovery rates, the formal systems employed for recovering valuable materials would yield 8% (€58 million) and 14% (€80 million) of the potential yield for the Jakarta and New Orleans models, respectively. Moreover, the model estimated that informal e-waste recycling would yield €1.2 billion.

The model also highlighted several problems encountered in post-disaster waste management in both scenarios, such as low capacities of temporary storage sites, increased landfilling rates, low yields of recovered e-waste components, and limitations on the transportation of waste. For optimizing the recovery of valuable metals, regulations addressing e-waste must be implemented more thoroughly, and post-disaster waste management guidelines must be revised to contextually address flood disasters. When more data are available, an improved model can be established and used as a basis for policymaking to improve the infrastructure of solid waste management to optimize e-waste recovery.