CASE STUDY

Plastic Waste Recovery by Regional Blockchain Network

Case study

Discovering climate change mitigation and new business opportunities by blockchain application

The challenge

One of the key barriers for plastics to enter into a circular economy is its complexity in terms of different types of plastics as well as different additive. At the same time purity of variety is mandatory for effective recycling. However, plastic waste often occurs in small amounts that do not justify specific collection and recycling schemes: Recording the specific composition of these plastic wastes, place and time of generation and their subsequent use in industrial processes causes transaction costs that are often higher than the cost saving potentials from using recycled materials.

What we want to achieve

Exploring business opportunities and climate change mitigation potential to establish a blockchain application, specifically for a regional network of SMEs that generates small amounts of plastic leftovers, packaging, by-products and waste.

Partners

Wuppertal Institute, University of Bologna