Blockchain for Waste Management in Smart Cities: A Survey

Abstract

Smart cities have the potential to overcome environmental problems caused by improper waste disposal to improve human health, protect the aquatic ecosystem, and reduce air pollution. However, today's systems, approaches, and technologies leveraged for waste management are manual and centralized that make them vulnerable to manipulation and the single point of failure problem. Also, a large portion of the existing waste management systems within smart cities fall short in providing operational transparency, traceability, audit, security, and trusted data provenance features. In this paper, we explore the key role of blockchain technology in managing waste within smart cities as it can offer traceability, immutability, transparency, and audit features in a decentralized, trusted, and secure manner. We discuss the opportunities brought about by blockchain technology in various waste management use cases and application scenarios, including real-time tracing and tracking of waste, reliable channelization and compliance with waste treatment laws, efficient waste resources management, protection of waste management documentation, and fleet management. We introduce a framework that leverages blockchain-based smart contracts to automate the key services in terms of waste management of smart cities. We compare the existing blockchain-based waste management solutions based on important parameters. Furthermore, we present insightful discussions on several ongoing blockchain-based research projects and case studies to highlight the practicability of blockchain in waste management. Finally, we present open challenges that act as future research directions.

The application of blockchain technology in the recycling chain: a state-of-the-art literature review and conceptual framework

“…Recycling rewarding 2, 3,4,6,8,9,10,14,18,20,25,2 8,29,3033,35,36,37,38,39 Recycling supervision 3,8,9,10,16,18,20,25,27,28,2 9,30,33,35,37,38,39,41,42 Service transformation Strategic consideration 8,10,15,19,21,36,37,38,39,4 5 Recycling process optimisation 3, 5,7,9,12,13,18,19,21,22,25 ,26,27, 28,29,30,32,35,36,37,38,39 4,14,18,29,30,31,35,36,39,41,42,43,45 Privacy issue 1,4, 14,18,…”

“…Organisational readiness 4, 18,30,39,45 Stakeholder acceptance 1,4, 14,16,30,39,45 Stakeholder commitment 4,8,14,16,30,39,45…”

“…1 ,4,8,14,18,30,31,32,39,42,4 3,45 Industry constraint (external) 1,4,8,14,18,30,31,39,44,45 ,10,12, 14,17, 18,19, 20,22, 23,31, 39,39 66 Flexibility Networking effect Networking effects promote multi-party coordination, which can enhance resource integration and information sharing 2,4, 6,8 ,17,18, 20,27, 30,32, 35,38, 39 Speeding process BCT can automatically track, and record recycling processes while the digitalised recycling chain can simplify procedures and improve collection, separation, and transportation efficiency 3, 5,7,9 ,12,16, 18,20, 21,23, 24,25, 27,29, 31,35, 36 7,8,9 ,10,12, 13,14, 15,17, 18,20, 21,22, 23,24, 30,31, 32,34, 35,38, 39 Fair recycling business Maintain fair waste trade by enhancing information sharing and reducing cash transactions; tackle smuggling trade and illegal cross-border dumping 10,18,31,41,42,43,44,45 Source: Adapted from: Kshetri (2018) 68 Therein, 34% of the selected journals are from the ABS Journal List and those from other lists account for 66%. Note: The 'Others' category refers to the region that only appears once…”

Application of Computational Law and Artificial Intelligence Methods for Sharia Compliance Analysis of E-Waste Management Systems Based on Blockchain

“…Thorough conceptual modeling and deductive analysis revealed that blockchain technology possesses attributes that can enable transparent, tamper-proof, decentralized tracking of e-waste flows across the supply chain in a manner that satisfies the core compliance criteria mandated by Islamic jurisprudence [10]. As elucidated by Leng, J.…”