Abstract
This study developed a strategic framework for electronic waste management in Tehran, Iran’s capital megacity, by integrating SWOT analysis with the Quantitative Strategic Planning Matrix (QSPM). Insights were obtained from a balanced panel of 30 local stakeholders: 15 public-sector officials from Tehran’s Waste Management Organization and 15 managers of private recycling facilities. The QSPM analysis was then employed to prioritize the strategies, identifying six key approaches. The formulation of comprehensive health, safety, and environmental (HSE) regulations for e-waste recycling emerged as the top-priority strategy (Total Attractiveness Score (TAS) = 12.418). Subsequent priorities included optimizing e-waste collection processes (TAS = 10.764) and establishing dedicated e-waste sorting centers (TAS = 10.66). Sensitivity analysis confirmed the stability of this ranking against variations in key factor weights. The study identified significant gaps in supervision, infrastructure, and technical expertise, while also recognizing opportunities presented by Tehran’s high population density and the availability of advanced technologies. To our knowledge, this work represents the first application of an integrated SWOT–QSPM framework to Tehran’s e-waste challenge, offering a novel and replicable model for megacities facing comparable governance complexity and public–private integration barriers. The proposed framework provides municipal policymakers with a practical roadmap, indicating that the integrated SWOT-QSPM approach effectively generates tailored waste management strategies for megacities.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Awasthi, A. K., Zeng, X. & Li, J. Environmental pollution of electronic waste recycling in india: a critical review. Environ. Pollut. 211, 259–270. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2015.11.027 (2016).
Baldé, C. P., Forti, V., Gray, V., Kuehr, R. & Stegmann, P. *The Global E-waste Monitor 2017* (United Nations University, 2017). https://unu.edu/ewastemonitor
Cucchiella, F., D’Adamo, I., Koh, S. C. L. & Rosa, P. Recycling of weees: an economic assessment of present and future e-waste streams. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 51, 263–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.06.010 (2015).
Forti, V., Baldé, C. P., Kuehr, R., Bel, G. & *The Global, E. Monitor : Quantities, flows and the circular economy potential* (United Nations University, 2020). (2020). https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Environment/Pages/Spotlight/Global-E-waste-Monitor-2020.aspx
Cui, J. & Zhang, L. Metallurgical recovery of metals from electronic waste: a review. J. Hazard. Mater. 158, 228–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhazmat.2008.02.001 (2008).
Kiddee, P., Naidu, R. & Wong, M. H. Electronic waste management approaches: an overview. Waste Manage. 33, 1237–1250. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2013.01.006 (2013).
Robinson, B. H. E-waste: an assessment of global production and environmental impacts. Sci. Total Environ. 408, 183–191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2009.09.044 (2009).
Ongondo, F. O., Williams, I. D. & Cherrett, T. J. How are WEEE doing? A global review of the management of electrical and electronic wastes. Waste Manage. 31, 714–730. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2010.10.023 (2011).
Grant, K. et al. Health consequences of exposure to e-waste: a systematic review. Lancet Glob Health. 1, 350–361. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2214-109X(13)70101-3 (2013).
Gollakota, A. R. K., Gautam, S. & Shu, C. M. Inconsistencies of e-waste management in developing nations – Facts and plausible solutions. J. Environ. Manage. 261, 110234. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.110234 (2020).
Kumar, A., Holuszko, M. & Espinosa, D. C. R. E-waste: an overview on generation, collection, legislation and recycling practices. Resour. Conserv. Recycl. 122, 32–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2017.01.018 (2017).
Khan, S. A., Kusi-Sarpong, S., Arhin, F. K. & Kusi-Sarpong, H. Supplier sustainability performance evaluation and selection: A framework and methodology. J. Clean. Prod. 205, 964–979. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.09.144 (2018).
Ylä-Mella, J., Keiski, R. L. & Pongrácz, E. Electronic waste recovery in finland: consumers’ perceptions towards recycling and re-use of mobile phones. Waste Manage. 45, 374–384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2015.02.031 (2015).
Song, Q. & Li, J. A systematic review of the human body burden of e-waste exposure in China. Environ. Int. 68, 82–93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2014.03.018 (2014).
Li, J., Zeng, X. & Stevels, A. Ecodesign in consumer electronics: Past, Present, and future. Crit. Rev. Environ. Sci. Technol. 44, 840–860. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2014.900245 (2014).
Awasthi, A. K., Li, J., Koh, L. & Ogunseitan, O. A. Circular economy and electronic waste. Nat. Electron. 2, 86–89. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41928-019-0225-2 (2019).
Sthiannopkao, S. & Wong, M. H. Handling e-waste in developed and developing countries: Initiatives, practices, and consequences. Sci. Total Environ. 463–464, 1147–1153. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.06.088 (2013).
Chaudhary, K. & Vrat, P. SWOT analysis of e-waste management in India. Ind. Eng. J. 10, 27–39 (2015).
Kazemi, A., Ebrahimi, G. & Abadi, L. Assessment the results of QSPM in opportunities strength for electronically waste of environmental management by SWOT method in Pira Iranian drilling company. J. Biodivers. Environ. Sci. 6, 524–532 (2015).
Enache, E. A SWOT analysis on the waste management problem in Romania. Theor. Appl. Econ. 17, 101–108 (2010).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Zahra Aliannejadi: Conceptualization, Data Collection, Writing original draft.Saeed Malmasi: Supervision, Project administration.Maryam Rafati: Visualization, Review and Editing.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Ethical approval and consent to participate
This study involved human participants (expert interviews and surveys). All methods were performed in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations, specifically the ethical principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. The study protocol, including the interview and survey procedures, was reviewed and formally approved by the Research Ethics Committee of Islamic Azad University, Tehran North Branch (Approval Code: IR.IAU.TNB.REC.1404.478). Prior to data collection, written informed consent was obtained from all participants. They were informed about the study’s purpose, the voluntary nature of their participation, the confidentiality of their responses, and their right to withdraw at any time without consequence.
Additional information
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Supplementary Information
Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.
Rights and permissions
Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
About this article
Cite this article
Aliannejadi, Z., Malmasi, S. & Rafati, M. Strategic prioritization for Tehran’s electronic waste management via integrated SWOT and QSPM analysis. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37703-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-37703-8
