E-Waste Tracker: A Novel Blockchain-based E-Waste Tracking System

The rapid advancement of technology has caused e-waste to increase exponentially, with over 50 million metric tons produced annually. The uncontrolled dumping of e-waste has adverse environmental and public health consequences like water and land contamination due to the leaching of harmful chemicals (namely, lead, mercury and cadmium). However, traditional e-waste management practices are largely insufficient owing to their low transparency, inadequate monitoring and fake reporting. This translates to hazardous waste dumping and negative impact on the environment. To address this issue, the paper proposes a novel blockchain-based method for tracking e-waste called the "Ewaste Tracker". This enables a secure, decentralized and tamper-proof platform for e-waste traceability from production to recycling. By integrating blockchain technology with smart contracts and Internet of Things (IoT) devices, the proposed system facilitates increased transparency, automatic track compliance and higher recycling by providing incentives (such as, ecotokens). Furthermore, the social ramifications, business value and potential of the proposed system to transform e-waste management globally are also highlighted.