A Reward-based Framework for Recovery and Utilization of Recyclable Wastes using Blockchain

Recycling is an integral part of waste management. Recovery and utilization of the recyclable wastes from the generated wastes is, therefore, a significant step towards the sustainability of the environment. As the population is increasing drastically worldwide, there has been a huge increase in the generation of waste in the environment. In order to provide a clean and green environment through an efficient smart waste management system, wastes must be reduced and recycling can reduce the generation of new wastes to a great extent. Recyclable wastes can be identified using image classification techniques for recovery and further processing. In this work, a blockchain-based framework has been proposed to automate the flow of processes of recovery, transportation, recycling, and distribution of recyclables in the market through smart contracts. The source user is provided with incentives for dumping recyclable wastes based on the weight of the wastes dumped into the loT-based well-equipped smart garbage bin. This will encourage the citizens to dump recyclable wastes in the proper dustbins instead of disposing them in landfills and throwing them anywhere. It will help in reducing the generation of new waste, thereby utilizing and consuming the previously used ones. It can further help in industrial growth, thereby providing a cleaner environment. A proof-of-Concept solution is provided for the framework in this paper, where the gas cost required for deploying all the smart contracts of the framework is calculated.