To study the role and possibilities of software engineering and software solutions in general to reduce e-waste and/or boost recycling/re-purposing of it

Abstract

Modern world rotates around electronics, digitalization, data, and communication networks. This development has led a large amount of e-waste, non-needed and aged electrical and electronic equipment, and devices. To use digitalization against it’s own problem, we seek to study the role of software engineering practices and software solutions in reduction of the e-waste. Our work is a comprehensive mapping study, with three key research questions, focusing on the contribution of software engineering practices, software solutions, and sustainable ICT strategies to e-waste minimization and circular approaches to its management. The review includes Systematic Literature Review (SLR) components with main concentration on categorizing current main research contributions on topic area via Mapping Study. Search queries were used on multiple well established index databases, resulting in 56 unique contributing articles. These articles were categorized thematically, reflecting in software engineering solutions, software solutions, sustainable ICTs, and additional factors influencing e-waste management to address the research questions. Encompassed topics are e-waste generation, green software engineering, green IT, green computing, the impact of the ICT sector, and data center waste management. The study has revealed the importance of sustainability in software engineering, the potential of software solutions leveraging cutting-edge technologies, the significance of sustainable ICT practices, and the various factors on e-waste management. The insights from this mapping study and overview review provided novel starting point and thematical guidance for future research.