The sustainability lag

A cross-regional analysis of techno-dependency and e-waste outcomes in Africa and Asia

Abstract

While digital technologies are expanding rapidly in developing countries, their environmental consequences - particularly electronic waste (e-waste) - remain poorly integrated into digital development discourse. Most existing studies treat digital readiness and environmental sustainability as distinct domains, offering limited empirical evidence on how digital infrastructure impacts waste management, especially across regions with varied governance capacities. This study addresses this gap by analyzing whether higher digital readiness correlates with improved e-waste management in 40 developing countries - 20 from Africa and 20 from Asia. Drawing on cross-national data, the study uses indicators such as the ICT Development Index (IDI), AI Readiness Index, GDP per capita, urbanization rate, and e-waste formally collected and recycled. Descriptive analysis shows that while the average ICT score was 4.12 (on a 10-point scale), only 14.2% of e-waste was formally recycled across the sample, with Africa averaging under 5%. Regression results reveal that in Africa, both IDI (β = 2.49, p < 0.001) and GDP per capita (β = 0.0012, p = 0.011) significantly predicted recycling rates, while in Asia, these relationships were weaker and statistically non-significant. AI Readiness was not a strong predictor in either region. These findings imply that digital infrastructure alone is insufficient for sustainable outcomes and must be paired with effective governance and investment in environmental systems. The study’s novelty lies in its cross-regional, comparative approach, bridging digital development and environmental sustainability. Theoretically, it extends Ecological Modernization Theory by demonstrating that technological capacity must be mediated by policy effectiveness. Empirically, it introduces the concept of a “sustainability lag” to explain why rising digital access does not automatically translate into improved environmental outcomes in the Global South.