Shedding light on the efficiency of the product-service system in waste from electrical and electronic equipment: A social media analysis of consumer tweets

Due to growing concerns about electronic waste (e-waste), manufacturers are constantly pressured to adopt sustainable product development. In this regard, a product-service system (PSS) is a circular economy business model that offers a potential solution. Consumers are considered to play a vital role as key stakeholders in waste management and PSS. Although a substantial amount of research has been conducted on the consumer-facing sustainability aspects of PSS, most studies have neglected waste management in product-oriented PSS. On the other hand, research has either discussed sustainability theoretically or used traditional methods such as surveys to obtain consumers' opinions regarding the functionality of PSSs and the sustainability of their programs. Consequently, in the present study, the success of product-oriented PSSs in various aspects of waste management is evaluated utilizing a method centered around social media as the primary source of consumer feedback through machine learning (ML) algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) methods. The novelty of this study stems from its determination of the significance and level of consumer satisfaction over an extended period to identify major topics among consumer opinions on social media. The proposed method was used in Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) to evaluate leading corporations, such as Apple, Samsung, and Google. In addition, the Delphi method was implemented, and the reasons behind extracted trends are discussed based on experts' opinions. The results indicate that ‘cost,’ ‘trust,’ ‘convenience,’ ‘awareness and advertisement,’ ‘benefits,’ and ‘data privacy and security’ were the major topics identified. Moreover, ‘cost’ was the most important factor in determining whether consumers participate in waste management programs. Finally, this study can provide businesses with a six-year guide on how consumers have responded to their programs and concepts regarding WEEE.