Waste management: A comprehensive state of the art about the rise of blockchain technology

In the last century, the increased urbanization and population growth produced a dramatic increase in waste production, causing serious problems for the environment and human health like never before. Currently, correct waste management represents a serious challenge that can be faced through the us...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inComputers in industry Vol. 145; p. 103812
Main Authors Baralla, Gavina, Pinna, Andrea, Tonelli, Roberto, Marchesi, Michele
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier B.V 01.02.2023
Subjects
Blockchain
Circular economy
Smart contracts
Sustainability
Urban waste
Waste management
Waste management
Circular economy
Smart contracts
Sustainability
Blockchain
Urban waste
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Summary:In the last century, the increased urbanization and population growth produced a dramatic increase in waste production, causing serious problems for the environment and human health like never before. Currently, correct waste management represents a serious challenge that can be faced through the use of new technologies. Blockchain technology is a disruptive and emerging ICT solution. Because of its ability to ensure transparency, data immutability, and consensus among stakeholders involved, this shared distributed data structure has grown in popularity in a variety of industrial sectors, including finance, health, and supply chain. The purpose of this study is to analyze the current state of the art in the use of blockchain technology in the waste management sector with a focus on the literature state of the art and on ongoing or soon to be launched industrial project cases. This paper investigates blockchain-based waste management systems; their benefits for the circular economy and in terms of social, environmental, economic, and health dimensions; as well as limitations and drawbacks that could prevent the use of blockchain in the waste sector. •We describe blockchain application in the six macro-phases of the Waste Management.•Research papers on blockchain in WM are discussed, including tokens and IoT devices.•Phases, benefits, and the current state of 22 real software projects are discussed.•Benefits of adopting blockchain-based WM systems are examined in terms of 4 dimesions.
ISSN:0166-3615
DOI:10.1016/j.compind.2022.103812