Abstract
— Nowadays, the advancement of technology through the massive production of consumer electronics has influenced significantly the daily living standards or the lifestyle in the households and has made them essentials for convenience services. Households contribute to the generation of unwanted or not working devices called commonly " e-waste " in the literature. The increased generation of e-waste poses challenges globally and locally in terms of its threats to the environment and public health. In response to this crisis, Gauteng local government has conceived an integrated strategy to tackle the challenges of proliferation of e-waste within its jurisdictions. Since the Gauteng province was identified as the major (55%) generator of e-waste nationwide, it became the focus of the present study, which aims to assess selected consumer electronics segment, the e-waste generated and the disposal practices in households in Gauteng. Results revealed that each household has 4.1 (±2.3) consumer electronics in use, 0.6 (±1.1) not working and 1.2 (±1.8) not needed. Giving the e-waste to someone was the most dominant (40%) disposal practice among the households, while practices such as recycling and others were found to be lower than 40% among the respondents for all the selected consumer electronics. The study showed certain electronic goods which will become waste in the future. The study recommended the implementation of campaigns stimulating awareness and participation of households in the local government strategy to promote pro environmental behaviour for sustainable e-waste management.