The impact of board characteristics and sustainability steering committee on e-waste disclosure: a study on Malaysian public listed companies

In the past few years, the issue of e-waste has caught the attention of many due to its massive growth in volume. During the outbreak of Covid-19, more electronic devices such as laptops and printers were provided to employees so they could work remotely. Indirectly, this may cause the volume of e-waste generated to increase more than what has been expected. This study aims to address the issue of e-waste reporting in Malaysian public listed companies by examining the influence of board characteristics (size, independence, frequency of meetings, and gender diversity) and sustainability steering committees on the reporting of e-waste. E-waste has become a growing concern in Malaysia. There is a need for companies to be transparent in their reporting on e-waste management practices. Specifically, this study observed the extent and quality of e-waste disclosure. It also examined the level of e-waste disclosure between industries. Subsequently, this study also investigated if board characteristics and sustainability steering committee had any impact on e-waste disclosure. The sample consisted of all companies from Bursa Malaysia's main market. The findings indicated that the quality of disclosure appeared to be roughly in the middle of non-disclosure and general qualitative disclosure. According to this study, companies in technology and telecommunications sectors disclosed e-waste information more comprehensively and of higher quality than companies in other sectors. This study also revealed that board meeting frequency was the only board characteristic that significantly enhanced e-waste disclosure. In addition, there was a significant and positive relationship between the existence of a sustainability steering committee and e-waste disclosure. The findings of this study contribute to the aspirations in achieving environmental sustainability and sustainable development goals.