E-Waste Collection System Optimization via GIS-Based Network Analysis in Yaoundé, Cameroon

The recent proliferation of electronic waste (E-waste) in developing countries has become a pressing environmental and socio-economic issue, particularly in urban areas dominated by informal waste management practices. The current E-waste collection system in Yaoundé comprises three collection streams: informal, formal, and municipal solid waste collection. However, transitioning to a prospective, integrated system requires optimizing E-waste collection. Given that the current formal collection (CFC) scenario has only 3 formal collection points, this study employs a survey-based and GIS network analyses to allocate 8 additional collection points to maximize formal collection coverage in Yaoundé. The results indicate a 52.81% increase in formal collection coverage for the maximized formal collection (MFC) scenario. Furthermore, Route 1 proved to be the most cost-effective, with a fuel consumption cost of 2,074,553.15 FCFA/year. Additionally, Route 1 yielded the lowest GHG emissions, at 6,714.74 kg CO₂ eq/year, compared with Routes 2 and 3. Finally, transitioning from the current business-as-usual (BAU) to a prospective integrated E-waste management (IEM) system resulted in a 13.83% reduction in emissions. This contributed 3.04% to Cameroon’s 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction target, as defined in its nationally determined contributions (NDC). The study’s findings are informative for decision-making in optimizing E-waste management systems in developing economies.