Logistics, in the age of technology, is a mind-boggling global activity. Recently, global merchandise trade was valued at US$ 19.67 trillion.
Such intense global economic activity is bound to also generate massive quantities of waste. In fact, the global recycling market is forecast to increase to $377 billion by 2024, with severe environmental impact. Especially, plastic waste management has become an issue of great concern to environmentalists.
At least 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic have been created in the world, and 6.3 billion metric tons have become plastic waste. With only 12% incinerated, most of its still exists, as plastics take 400 years to break down. Of great concern is the fact that only 9% of global plastic waste has been recycled.
Meanwhile, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), only about 8% of plastic waste in the U.S. gets recycled, while Deloitte found that Canada generated 3.3 million tons of plastic waste in 2016, of which, only 11% was recycled. This means that the remainder ended up in landfills or got lost in the environment. It is projected that at the current rate of consumption, Canada will generate $11 billion worth of plastic waste annually, by 2030.
Information uncovered in similar studies in different countries at different times, shines the light on a troubling issue for the world “ that the recycling industry is dysfunctional. Plastic items recycled by consumers end up in landfills or pollute the environment for lack of accountability and transparency in the different processes in the waste management industry.
A recent report by DHL and Accenture shows the complexity of tracking multiple collections at a global level, with endless invoices, receipts, shipments, serial numbers, and volumes of customs documents, between companies, hampering transparency. The increasing number of global and regional players in the plastic recycling market, is further aggravating the lack of accountability, underscoring the need for greater transparency.
This need to rethink conventional processes and bring accountability to information in a digital age has focused on digital identity, specifically on blockchain, which has inexorably changed how transactions are handled.
Blockchain brings greater visibility to the supply chain, fitting in everyone in the value chain so every transaction is seen by all, in real-time.
Blockchain was invented in 2008, by a person or group of persons known as Satoshi Nakamoto, to function as the public transaction ledger of the cryptocurrency bitcoin. Even though Bitcoin was the first blockchain system created, the blockchain system is making ripples in the global economy today, with ledgers replacing the current system of doing business. As Don and Alex Tapscott, the authors of Blockchain Revolution, defined it in 2016, The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value.
Moreover, with blockchain tracking in real-time, every movement of goods from company to company, or from one section of a company to another, and with no one person controlling the system, no one can change or corrupt information.
With recycled plastic waste, having to pass through several organizations before reaching its final destination, it is critical there is transparency at every turn. CEO of recycling platform RecycleGo, Stan Chen, said that the recycling business is plagued with inefficiencies, a slew of stakeholders, and a lack of digital data. In his view, the recycling industry has a need for greater supply chain visibility for better decision-making.
And so, RecycleGo partnered with enterprise technology firm DeepDive Technology Group to leverage blockchain for supply chain transparency. This project is still developing.
For instance, in the first phase, supply chain participants will be able to identify the entire history of a specific plastic bottle. Collaborators in the project will be able to determine when a plastic bottle was created, collected, returned to its original raw material state, and ultimately shipped back to the manufacturer to create another plastic bottle.
According to DeepDive CEO, Misha Hanin, the global plastic recycling industry currently provides fragmented and incomplete information. The perfect solution, then, would be to engage blockchain, which is primarily known for its ability to share secure data across different stakeholders, without involvement of intermediaries. Blockchain enables collection of everything of value from the point of initial manufacturing. When any data is captured, whether immediately relevant or not, it gets placed on the blockchain, and cannot be deleted. All participants on the chain are able to view the information through a web portal.
Blockchain technology, thus, is designed to be decentralized. Any information updated is a function of the whole network, and through encryption technology, blockchain removes the risk of hacking of centrally held data. This new verifying system is rendering redundant traditional processes and eliminating the middleman. As William Mougayar, said, Online identity and reputation will be decentralized. We will own the data that belongs to us.
Technology futurist, Ian Khan says, Blockchain truly is a mechanism to bring everyone to the highest degree of accountability. No more missed transactions, human or machine errors, or even an exchange that was not done with the consent of the parties involved.
Blockchain is, thus, an unrelenting force of decentralization and transparency. As physicist Albert Einstein once said, We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.
