The rapid growth of electronic devices has resulted in a global surge of electronic waste (e-waste), posing critical challenges for environmental sustainability and public health due to toxic emissions, unsafe handling, and informal recycling practices. Effective e-waste management is crucial for resource efficiency, advancing sustainability transitions, supporting the circular economy (CE) practices, reducing health hazards for consumers and waste workers and achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Consumer behavioral drivers play an important role in shaping safe and sustainable e-waste management outcomes. This study presents a systematic literature review of 133 peer-reviewed articles (2009–2025) using the Theory–Context–Characteristics–Methodology (TCCM) framework, following the PRISMA protocol. The analysis integrates thematic coding and TCCM-based synthesis to provide a multi-dimensional understanding of consumer behavior in e-waste management. The findings indicate a strong dominance of intention-focused recycling studies grounded in the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Key behavioral drivers such as intention, attitude, subjective norms, awareness, and perceived behavioral control are widely studied and are associated with participation in recycling and disposal practices. However, the persistence of the intention–behavior gap suggests that structural constraints, including limited infrastructure, convenience issues, and privacy concerns, may influence behavioral outcomes. The literature is predominantly concentrated in Asia and relies heavily on quantitative methods particularly Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), with limited cross-cultural and longitudinal research. The review also highlights that while consumer behavior is increasingly linked to circular economy practices and SDG targets, explicit integration with public health considerations remains underexplored. By triangulating thematic and TCCM findings, the study identifies key theoretical, contextual, and methodological gaps and proposes a future research agenda that emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, digital dimensions, and system-level interventions. Overall, the study suggests that integrating behavioral insights with circular economy strategies and public health perspectives can support the development of more effective and sustainable e-waste management systems.
Agarwal et al. (Thu,) studied this question.