Blockchain and Sustainable Waste Management: A Deep Dive

By Dejan Jovanovic, CTO at Diversys
April 2025 

Abstract
The paper explores the transformative potential of blockchain technology in advancing sustainable waste management systems, addressing persistent challenges such as lack of transparency, regulatory compliance, and inefficiencies. As global waste generation accelerates—with an estimated 2.2 billion tonnes of solid waste expected annually by 2025—traditional management approaches struggle to meet sustainability goals. The paper provides an in-depth analysis of blockchain’s decentralized and immutable ledger capabilities, highlighting how it can improve traceability, incentivize recycling, and enhance stakeholder accountability across the waste lifecycle.

The analysis draws on global case studies—including Plastic Bank, SNCF, and the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure—and details specific blockchain applications such as smart contracts, digital product passports, and tokenized incentives. These tools automate processes, prevent fraud, and foster circular economy practices by tracking materials from origin through disposal or recycling.

Furthermore, the integration of blockchain with IoT and AI technologies is examined as a pathway to creating intelligent, responsive waste systems. The article also reviews leading blockchain platforms—Ethereum, Hyperledger Fabric, VeChain, and others—analyzing their suitability for different waste recovery use cases. While challenges such as high implementation costs, scalability issues and regulatory uncertainty remain, the paper concludes that blockchain presents a robust, scalable solution for modernizing waste governance, and accelerating sustainability transitions.

Ultimately, the article offers strategic recommendations for leaders in governments, industries, and communities to implement pilot projects, foster collaboration, and develop standardized, legally sound frameworks to support blockchain-enabled waste management solutions.

1. Introduction

Efficient waste management has become increasingly critical due to rapid urbanization and population growth. Globally, the generation of solid waste is projected to reach 2.2 billion tonnes annually by 2025, with a significant portion not managed safely. Traditional waste management methods face challenges like inefficiencies, insufficient facilities, errors in sorting, and inadequate recycling systems.

Countries worldwide have adopted innovative solutions: Japan’s rigorous waste separation, South Korea’s pay-as-you-throw model, Singapore’s waste-to-energy approach, Germany’s dual packaging waste system, Sweden’s incineration for energy, Norway’s bottle recycling incentives, and South Australia’s container deposit scheme. The NEOM project in Saudi Arabia represents another innovative initiative, integrating blockchain technology to enhance sustainability and transparency.

Blockchain technology with its decentralized and transparent nature, offers significant potential for improving waste management efficiency, safety, and authenticity. It facilitates accurate tracking from raw materials through recycling, supports regulatory compliance, and improves supply chain management by eliminating inefficiencies.

Blockchain can streamline mechanical recycling by creating a transparent and immutable record of plastic waste from collection to recycling. Blockchain ensures that all participants in the recycling chain—waste collectors, sorting facilities, and recyclers—are accurately tracked and incentivized.

1.1 Role of Blockchain Technology

Blockchain technology is increasingly acknowledged in scientific and industry literature as an effective mechanism for enhancing waste management practices, particularly due to its contributions to transparency, operational efficiency, and sustainability. Operating on decentralized networks, blockchain facilitates superior transparency and traceability within waste management systems by securely maintaining immutable records of transactions and activities spanning waste generation, collection, transport, recycling, and disposal processes. Such transparency is essential for mitigating fraud, mismanagement, and operational inefficiencies inherent in conventional waste management frameworks.

Furthermore, blockchain technology incorporates smart contracts—automated, self-executing agreements triggered by predefined rules and conditions. Within waste management contexts, smart contracts can efficiently automate payment processes, enforce regulatory adherence, and streamline operational procedures, significantly reducing administrative overhead and enhancing overall efficiency.

Moreover, blockchain technology enhances accountability among stakeholders, including waste collectors, haulers, recyclers, and processing facilities, by providing a verifiable, real-time ledger of actions and waste movements. This capability substantially improves system reliability and stakeholder confidence.

Blockchain also supports incentive mechanisms such as tokenization to reward participants engaging in sustainable waste management practices. Such incentives can effectively stimulate participation in recycling initiatives and proper waste disposal, thereby promoting circular economy principles.

Finally, the integration of blockchain with Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies can create sophisticated, dynamic waste management systems. IoT devices facilitate precise tracking of waste quantities, optimization of collection routes, and effective monitoring of recycling activities. The resultant data, securely stored on blockchain ledgers, empowers more informed decision-making and optimized resource management, underscoring blockchain’s transformative potential in advancing sustainable waste management systems.

1.2 Relevance of Sustainable Waste Management

Sustainable waste management is crucial for environmental protection, resource conservation, and public health. The world faces a global waste and resource crises. This crisis necessitates more sustainable waste management practices, comprising redirecting waste streams once sent to landfill or incinerated to be reused, recycled, or recovered instead (e.g., Velenturf and Purnell, 2017). Principles and aims such as “zero waste” (e.g., Silva et al., 2016), “circular economy” (in which wastes and resources are prevented, reused, recycled, or recovered) (e.g., Kirchherr et al., 2017), and “resource efficiency” (e.g., Wilts et al., 2016) have been introduced to support such practices. (ref: Taylor, Steenmans). There is impetus for changes to waste governance to incorporate some of these principles and aims (both in incentivizing their adoption as well as in response to their presence) has resulted in many laws and policies being adopted, such as the European Commission (2020) Circular Economy Action Plan, the Anti-Wastage and Circular Economy Law of France (2020), and the People’s Republic of China (2008) Circular Economy Promotion Law. Central to many of these are the tracking and monitoring of wastes.

2. Current Challenges in Waste Management
The waste management sector faces several significant challenges:

• Inefficiencies: Traditional waste management systems often involve manual processes, leading to errors and delays.
• Lack of Transparency: Opaque waste streams make it difficult to track waste from generation to disposal.
• Fraud: Misreporting of waste volumes and recycling rates undermine credibility.
• Clarity: The complexity of properly transferring ownership and financial responsibility of waste between parties makes it challenging to hold actors accountable.
• Grey Areas: Complications may also arise due to lack of clearly defined borders or littering.
• Informal Waste Sector Integration: The livelihoods of informal recyclers ofr waste pickers could be put at risk if those responsible can be identified and therefore held responsible for their own waste.
• Enforcement of Regulations: Lack of effective monitoring and enforcement mechanisms.

3. Blockchain Applications in Waste Management

Blockchain technology can address the challenges that the waste management sector has by providing a transparent, secure, and efficient platform for managing different waste streams

• Tracking and Tracing: Blockchain can be used to track waste from its origin to its final destination, providing a complete record of its journey. This enhances transparency and accountability.
  • Example: Using QR codes or RFID tags linked to blockchain records to track waste movement. The provided provenance enables auditing to identify wrongdoing and impose penalties (e.g., to track whether toxic waste has been lawfully disposed of) and corroboration to resolve disputes between users (e.g., where companies disagree about a waste transaction) (ref: Taylor, Steenmans)
• Smart Contracts for Automation: Smart contracts can automate various waste management processes, such as payments to waste collectors, verification of recycling rates, and enforcement of contracts. These benefits of blockchain facilitate trustworthiness of users and provide incentives for them to act honestly in their transactions and recording of events. (ref: Taylor, Steenmans)
• Incentivizing Recycling: Blockchain-based reward systems can incentivize individuals and businesses to recycle more by issuing digital tokens for depositing waste at designated locations.
  • Example: The Plastic Bank uses blockchain rewards to incentivize individuals to become plastic waste collectors, particularly in developing countries, with an aim of reducing the amount of plastic that ends up in the oceans.
• Clarity: Recording the generation and transfer of resource and waste streams on the blockchain provides a record of provenance for wastes. This provenance can be used to confirm that a transfer or the discarding of waste occurred, as well as identify the organization or individual that is responsible for the waste. (ref: Taylor, Steenmans)

Specific Use Cases:

• SNCF (French National Railway Company): Used blockchain to monitor the amount, type, and frequency of waste collected in train station bins in order to optimize waste collection and produce precise invoices from the waste collector, with long term hopes of environmental benefits. SNCF recorded the waste data and transfers in blockchain transactions using the digital identities of bins on train platforms.
• Plastic Bank: Rewards individuals in developing countries with digital tokens for collecting plastic waste.
• Agora Tech Lab: Facilitates payment for waste via blockchain secured digital tokens that can be redeemed or exchanged.

4. Example of Smart Contract usage in Beverage and Bottle Waste Management

Smart contracts offer a powerful mechanism to automate, verify, and incentivize recycling, particularly in beverage and bottle recycling schemes. Key elements and benefits include:

• Deposit and Reward Automation
  • Customers pay a small deposit for bottles, recorded transparently on the blockchain.
  • On returning bottles, the smart contract automatically verifies and refunds the deposits.
• Transparency and Auditability
  • All transactions are recorded immutably, ensuring accountability in recycling processes.
  • Reduces fraudulent reporting and increases trust among stakeholders.
• Incentivization
  • Consumers are motivated by transparent financial incentives.
  • Recycling firms can verify returns instantly, facilitating prompt compensation.
• Supply Chain Integration
  • The entire lifecycle from production, consumption, to recycling is transparently documented.
  • Enables producers to easily demonstrate compliance with recycling and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation.
• Digital Product Passport
  • Bottles and beverages can have a digital passport recorded via blockchain, tracking manufacturing, distribution, usage, and end-of-life recycling information.

Here is an example of Ethereum Smart Contract for Beverage and Bottle Waste Stream. This basic Solidity example demonstrates a simplified system to handle bottle deposits and refunds.

Smart Contract Example (Solidity):

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;

contract BottleRecycling {
address public owner;
uint public depositAmount = 0.01 ether;
mapping(address => uint) public bottlesDeposited;
event BottlePurchased(address indexed buyer, uint quantity);
event BottleReturned(address indexed recycler, uint quantity);
event DepositAmountChanged(uint newAmount);

modifier onlyOwner() {
require(msg.sender == owner, "Only owner can execute");
_;
}

constructor() {
owner = msg.sender;
}

// Buyer pays deposit for bottles at purchase
function purchaseBottle(uint quantity) external payable {
require(msg.value == quantity * depositAmount, "Incorrect deposit amount sent");
bottlesDeposited[msg.sender] += quantity;
emit BottlePurchased(msg.sender, quantity);
}

// Recycler returns bottles to claim their deposit
function returnBottle(uint quantity) external {
require(bottlesDeposited[msg.sender] >= quantity, "Not enough bottles deposited");

bottlesDeposited[msg.sender] -= quantity;
payable(msg.sender).transfer(quantity * depositAmount);

emit BottleReturned(msg.sender, quantity);
}

// Owner can update the deposit amount
function setDepositAmount(uint newAmount) external onlyOwner {
depositAmount = newAmount;

 emit DepositAmountChanged(newAmount);

        }

        // Allow contract to receive ether

        receive() external payable {}

        // Withdraw contract's Ether balance by owner

        function withdrawBalance() external onlyOwner {

            payable(owner).transfer(address(this).balance);

        }

    }

Smart Contract Broken Down:

Key Components:

• depositAmount: The fixed deposit per bottle (modifiable by the contract owner).
• bottlesDeposited mapping: Tracks number of bottles each user has deposited/purchased.
• Events: Provide transparency and tracking capability off-chain.

Core Functions:

• purchaseBottle: Consumers pay deposits when buying bottles.
• returnBottle: Customers return bottles and get their deposit back.
• setDepositAmount: Owner can change the deposit required.
• withdrawBalance: Owner can withdraw funds accumulated in the contract.

Real-World Integration Scenario

Workflow:

1. Bottle Purchase:
   • User buys a beverage, paying an extra deposit amount recorded by the smart contract.
2. Bottle Use & Return:
   • After use, the consumer returns the bottle to a designated collection point.
   • The returned bottle triggers an IoT-enabled machine (reverse vending machine) integrated with the blockchain.
3. Verification & Refund:
   • The machine verifies bottle authenticity using RFID/QR codes tied to the blockchain entry.
   • Smart contract automatically refunds the deposited amount directly to the user’s wallet.
4. Transparency & Compliance:
   • Recycling rates and performance metrics are transparently tracked on the blockchain.
   • Producers easily demonstrate recycling compliance.

Benefits Summary

• Automates complex financial processes
• Reduces fraud and errors
• Enhances consumer participation via incentives
• Provides immutable, transparent audit trails
• Streamlines Extended Producer Responsibility compliance

5. Using Blockchain Smart Contracts for Digital Product Passport

Digital product passports store information throughout a product’s lifecycle, such as raw materials sourcing, production details, ownership history, and recycling. Utilizing smart contracts ensures this information is transparent, secure, and immutable.

Key Features and Benefits:

• Transparency: Provides consumers and businesses insights into the entire lifecycle of a product.
• Traceability: Clearly tracks product origins and handling, supporting sustainability and circular economy goals.
• Compliance & Verification: Automates regulatory compliance and ensures authenticity of sustainability claims.
• Circular Economy Facilitation: Enables efficient reuse, refurbishment, and recycling processes.

Real-World Examples:

1. Batteries and Electronics Waste Management
   • Track origin, lifecycle, recycling procedures, and environmental compliance.
   • Facilitate Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
2. Luxury and Fashion Goods Waste Management
   • Verify authenticity and ethical sourcing of raw materials.
   • Monitor resale and recycling activities.
3. Automotive Components Waste Management
   • Lifecycle tracking of car parts to ensure safety, authenticity, and recyclability.
4. Food Supply Chains Waste Management
   • Trace food sources, ensuring quality and safety, and reducing fraud risks.

Ethereum Smart Contract Example for Digital Product Passport. The following Solidity code provides a simplified digital passport solution, tracking lifecycle events for products.

Smart Contract (Solidity):

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;

contract DigitalProductPassport {
address public admin;

struct Product {
string productId;
string productType;
string origin;
address currentOwner;
string[] lifecycleEvents;
bool exists;
}

mapping(string => Product) private products;

event ProductCreated(string productId, string productType, string origin);
event OwnershipTransferred(string productId, address newOwner);
event LifecycleEventAdded(string productId, string eventDetail);

modifier onlyOwner(string memory productId) {
require(msg.sender == products[productId].currentOwner, \"Only current owner can perform this action.\");
_;
}

modifier onlyAdmin() {
require(msg.sender == admin, \"Only admin can perform this action.\");
_;
}

constructor() {
admin = msg.sender;
}

// Admin creates a new product passport
function createProduct(string memory productId, string memory productType, string memory origin, address initialOwner) public
onlyAdmin {
require(!products[productId].exists, \"Product already exists\");

products[productId] = Product({
productId: productId,
productType: productType,
origin: origin,
currentOwner: initialOwner,
lifecycleEvents: new string ,
exists: true
});

emit ProductCreated(productId, productType, origin);
}

// Transfer product ownership
function transferOwnership(string memory productId, address newOwner) public onlyOwner(productId) {
products[productId].currentOwner = newOwner;
emit OwnershipTransferred(productId, newOwner);
}

// Record a lifecycle event (manufacturing, recycling, etc.)
function addLifecycleEvent(string memory productId, string memory eventDetail) public onlyOwner(productId) {
products[productId].lifecycleEvents.push(eventDetail);
emit LifecycleEventAdded(productId, eventDetail);
}

// Retrieve product details
function getProductDetails(string memory productId) public view returns (string memory, string memory, address, string[]
memory) {
require(products[productId].exists, \"Product does not exist\");
Product storage p = products[productId];
return (p.productType, p.origin, p.currentOwner, p.lifecycleEvents);
}
}

Explanation of Smart Contract implementation:

Key Components:

• Struct Product: Stores product ID, type, origin, current owner, and lifecycle events.
• Mappings: Efficiently track each product using a unique product ID.
• Events: Transparently log product creation, ownership transfers, and lifecycle events.

Main Functions:

• createProduct: Admin initializes a product’s digital passport.
• transferOwnership: Securely transfers ownership between entities.
• addLifecycleEvent: Records critical product lifecycle moments (e.g., manufactured, shipped, recycled).
• getProductDetails: Provides transparency by allowing public inspection of product details.

Example Scenario of Usage:

Consider tracking a lithium-ion battery:

1. Manufacturing Phase
   • The battery manufacturer uses createProduct to register the battery on the blockchain, documenting origin and production details.
2. Distribution Phase
   • Ownership is transferred securely via transferOwnership as the battery moves through supply chains.
3. Use Phase
   • Usage events, performance data, and maintenance details are logged via addLifecycleEvent.
4. Recycling and Disposal Phase
   • At the end of the lifecycle, recycling processes are transparently recorded, providing verifiable proof of proper disposal.

Benefits Summary:

• Creates trust and transparency throughout the product lifecycle.
• Simplifies compliance with sustainability regulations.
• Enhances consumer confidence with verifiable product history.
• Facilitates efficient, sustainable supply chain management.

7. Detailed Analysis of Key Blockchain Technologies for Sustainability

7.1 Ethereum

• Description: Ethereum is a versatile, permissionless blockchain known for its support for smart contracts, which are self-executing contracts written in code. This allows for the automation of various processes and the creation of decentralized applications (dApps).
• Sustainability Applications:
  • Carbon Credit Tracking: Ethereum can be used to create a transparent and verifiable system for tracking carbon credits, ensuring that they are not double-counted or fraudulently issued.
  • Supply Chain Transparency: Ethereum can be used to track the origin and ethical sourcing of products, ensuring that they are produced in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.
  • Waste Management Tokenization: Companies earn digital tokens for verified recycling efforts.
• Suitability for Sustainable Waste Management: Ethereum’s smart contract capabilities are well-suited for automating and enforcing recycling processes, creating decentralized marketplaces for recyclable materials, and managing carbon credits. Its high transparency makes it suitable for public-facing applications that require trust and accountability.
• Benefits:
  • Large developer community
  • Extensive tooling and resources
  • Flexibility for building custom solutions
  • High Transparency
• Limitations:
  • Scalability issues, although Ethereum 2.0 aims to address this
  • High gas fees can make transactions costly, especially for small-scale applications
  • Historically energy-intensive, although the transition to Proof of Stake is addressing this

7.2 Hyperledger Fabric

• Description: Hyperledger Fabric is a permissioned blockchain framework designed for enterprise-grade solutions. It offers strong access control, customizable consensus mechanisms, and support for smart contracts.
• Sustainability Applications:
  • Tracking Industrial Waste: Fabric can be used to track the flow of industrial waste, ensuring that it is properly disposed of and recycled.
  • Managing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Compliance: Fabric can be used to verify that manufacturers meet their EPR targets, ensuring that they are taking responsibility for the end-of-life management of their products.
  • Sustainable Product Verification: Can be used to ensure the authenticity of sustainable products.
• Suitability for Sustainable Waste Management: Hyperledger Fabric is well-suited for private sector applications, such as managing industrial waste streams, ensuring compliance with EPR regulations, and tracking the provenance of sustainable products. Its strong access control makes it suitable for applications that require data privacy and confidentiality.
• Benefits:
  • Strong access control
  • Customizable consensus mechanisms
  • Support for smart contracts
  • High scalability in private environments
• Limitations:
  • Limited transparency due to its permissioned nature
  • Requires technical expertise to implement and maintain
  • Less community support compared to public blockchains

7.3 VeChain

• Description: VeChain is a public blockchain platform designed specifically for supply chain management and product lifecycle tracking. It integrates IoT devices for real-time data capture.
• Sustainability Applications:
  • E-Waste Tracking: VeChain can be used to track the flow of electronic waste, preventing illegal disposal and grey-market trading.
  • Authenticity Verification of Recycled Materials: VeChain can be used to verify the authenticity of recycled materials, ensuring that they are not fraudulently labeled.
  • Raw Materials Origin Tracking: VeChain can track raw materials.
• Suitability for Sustainable Waste Management: VeChain’s focus on supply chain management and its integration with IoT devices make it well-suited for tracking the lifecycle of products and materials, ensuring that they are properly recycled or disposed of at the end of their life. Its strong ecosystem of partners makes it a viable option for businesses looking to implement blockchain-based waste management solutions.
• Benefits:
  • Focus on supply chain use cases
  • Built-in IoT integration.
  • Strong ecosystem of partners.
  • Proven track record in real-world applications.
• Limitations:
  • Centralized governance may raise concerns about censorship resistance
  • Reliance on VeChain’s proprietary technology

7.4 Energy Web Chain

• Description: Energy Web Chain is a public blockchain designed specifically for the energy sector. It facilitates peer-to-peer energy trading and verifies the authenticity of renewable energy certificates.
• Sustainability Applications:
  • Peer-to-Peer Energy Trading: Energy Web Chain enables consumers to buy and sell renewable energy directly from each other.
  • Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) Tracking: Energy Web Chain can be used to track the origin and authenticity of RECs, ensuring that they are not double-counted or fraudulently issued.
  • Renewable Energy Origin Verification: Can be used to verify sources.
• Suitability for Sustainable Waste Management: Energy Web Chain is less directly applicable to waste management compared to other blockchain platforms. However, it could be used to incentivize waste-to-energy projects by facilitating the trading of renewable energy credits generated from waste-derived energy sources.
• Benefits:
  • Focused on the energy sector
  • Governance structure designed for energy stakeholders
  • Interoperability with existing energy systems
• Limitations:
  • Relatively new blockchain with a smaller ecosystem compared to Ethereum
  • Limited applications outside the energy sector

8. Real-Life Case Studies

1. Plastic Bank
   • Location: Global (significant presence in developing countries)
   • Use Case: Incentivizing plastic waste collection through blockchain-secured tokens.
   • Details: Individuals collect plastic waste and deposit it at collection points. They earn blockchain-based digital tokens redeemable for goods, services, or currency, motivating widespread recycling and reducing ocean plastic pollution.
2. RecycleGO
   • Location: United States
   • Use Case: Blockchain-based recycling tracking and supply chain management.
   • Details: Provides blockchain-enabled platforms for tracking waste from collection to recycling facilities, ensuring transparency, efficiency, and verifiable reporting, reducing fraud and optimizing logistics.
3. Empower
   • Location: Norway, Global operations
   • Use Case: Tracking plastic waste and rewarding participants with tokens.
   • Details: Blockchain records plastic collection and recycling efforts. Participants earn digital tokens exchangeable for money or goods, enhancing transparency, accountability, and participation in recycling initiatives.
4. Agora Tech Lab
   • Location: Netherlands
   • Use Case: Blockchain-based waste management payment system.
   • Details: Waste collection payments are automated via blockchain smart contracts, ensuring transparency and reducing administrative overhead, while incentivizing responsible waste disposal.
5. SNCF (French National Railway Company)
   • Location: France
   • Use Case: Optimization of waste collection at train stations using blockchain.
   • Details: SNCF implemented blockchain technology integrated with IoT sensors to track the amount and types of waste collected. This improved operational efficiency and transparency, although the pilot project concluded due to management priority shifts.
6. Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure
   • Location: Netherlands
   • Use Case: Blockchain for cross-border waste shipment management.
   • Details: The Netherlands government utilized blockchain technology to transparently track and manage waste shipments between the Netherlands and Belgium, significantly reducing administrative errors and enhancing transparency in international waste movements.
7. AREP
   • Location: France
   • Use Case: Blockchain-based waste monitoring in train stations.
   • Details: AREP, a subsidiary of SNCF, used blockchain to record waste collection data from IoT sensors installed in station bins, optimizing waste logistics and operational accountability.

9. Challenges and Limitations

Implementing blockchain in waste management also presents several challenges:

• Technological Barriers:
  • Scalability: Blockchain networks can be slow and costly when processing large volumes of transactions.
  • Integration Complexity: Integrating blockchain with existing waste management systems can be complex and costly.
  • Data Integrity: Ensuring the accuracy and reliability of data entered the blockchain is crucial. QR codes or RFID tags are only reliable if they can be read, and it becomes infeasible to both join waste streams and retain identities for individual waste components (ref: Taylor, Steenmans, Steenmans)
• Regulatory Barriers:
  • Lack of Standards: Absence of industry-wide standards for blockchain implementation in waste management.
  • Legal Uncertainty: Lack of clear legal frameworks for blockchain applications in waste management.
  • Data Privacy: Compliance with data privacy regulations, such as GDPR, can be challenging.
• Financial Barriers:
  • Implementation Costs: Deploying blockchain systems requires significant upfront investments in infrastructure and software.
  • Operational Costs: Maintaining blockchain networks and managing smart contracts can incur ongoing costs.
• Other Barriers
  • Responsibility may be hard to define in a chain of ownership, with grey areas of legality for waste (ref: Taylor, Steenmans, Steenmans)
  • There is risk to the livelihoods of informal recyclers or waste pickers if those responsible can be identified and therefore held responsible for their own waste. (ref: Taylor, Steenmans)

10. Future Trends and Innovations

• Integration with IoT: Combining blockchain with IoT sensors to automate waste tracking and monitoring in real-time.
• AI-Powered Waste Sorting: Using AI to improve waste sorting accuracy and reduce contamination rates.
• Decentralized Recycling Marketplaces: Creating blockchain-based marketplaces for trading recyclable materials, connecting waste generators with recyclers.
• Tokenized Incentives: Expanding the use of digital tokens to incentivize sustainable waste management practices across different sectors.
• Standardization and Interoperability: Developing industry-wide standards to ensure interoperability between different blockchain-based waste management systems.

11. Conclusion

Blockchain technology offers significant potential for transforming waste management practices, enhancing transparency, accountability, and efficiency. By addressing the current challenges, blockchain can promote recycling, circular economy practices, and regulatory compliance. While challenges and limitations exist, ongoing technological advancements and the development of industry-wide standards will pave the way for widespread adoption of blockchain in sustainable waste management.

12. Recommendations

• Pilot Projects: Governments and organizations should launch pilot projects to test and evaluate the effectiveness of blockchain in waste management.
• Collaboration: Stakeholders from different sectors, including waste management companies, technology providers, and government agencies, should collaborate to develop and implement blockchain solutions.
• Standardization: Industry-wide standards for blockchain implementation in waste management should be developed to ensure interoperability and scalability.
• Regulatory Frameworks: Governments should establish clear legal frameworks for blockchain applications in waste management, addressing issues such as data privacy and security.
• Education and Awareness: Public awareness campaigns should be conducted to educate citizens about the benefits of blockchain-based waste management systems.

13. References

• Taylor P, Steenmans K and Steenmans I (2020) Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Waste Management. Front. Polit. Sci. 2:590923. doi: 10.3389/fpos.2020.590923
• European Commission (2020) Circular Economy Action Plan
• Anti-Wastage and Circular Economy Law of France (2020)
• People’s Republic of China (2008) Circular Economy Promotion Law
• Saberi et al. (2018) Blockchain Technology for Sustainable Waste Management
• Agora Tech Lab (2018) Blockchain Payment
• Plastic Bank (2020) Blockchain Rewards
• La Rédaction (2017) SNCF Waste Management
• Hinchcliffe (2018) Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure Waste Management
• Lidbot (2020) Waste Type and Amount Data
• Sadhya and Sadhya (2018) Limitations in Blockchains
• Biswas and Gupta (2019) Limitations in Blockchains
• Kouhizadeh and Sarkis (2018) and Saberi et al. (2019) supply chain management
• Thomas (2014) Gray areas of legality of waste
• Steenmans and Malcolm (2020) Gray areas of legality of waste
• Lindhqvist (2000) Extended producer responsibility
• Castell et al. (2004) end-of-life vehicles
• European Parliament and Council, 2008) waste
• Barcelona Research Group on Informal Recyclers, 2020) informal recyclers
• Silva et al., 2016), “zero waste
• Kirchherr et al., 2017), “circular economy
• Wilts et al., 2016) and “resource efficiency
• Swan, 2015 Virtual Distributed Ledger
• Velenturf and Purnell, 2017 Reusing, Recycling, Recovering Waste Streams
• Law and Thompson, 2014 Plastics That Break into Micro-Plastics