Third year CSE students innovate efficient plastic recycling technology

Swikriti Khadke, Pragya Gupta, and Shanmukh Rachakunta from third-year Computer Science Engineering have published a research paper titled “Efficient Plastic Recycling and Remold Circular Economy using the Technology of Trust – Blockchain” along with their mentors from SRM University-AP Dr Jatindra Kumar Dash, Dr Goutam Kumar Dalapati and Dr Sabyasachi Chakrabortty in the peer-reviewed journal Sustainability.

Global plastic waste is increasing rapidly. The strategic management of plastic waste and recycling can preserve environmental species and associated costs. The utilization of plastic can be done by introducing Blockchain during plastic waste recycling. Automation for the segregation and collection of plastic waste can effectively establish a globally recognizable tool using Blockchain-based applications. Collection and sorting of plastic recycling are feasible by keeping track of plastic with unique codes or digital badges throughout the supply chain. Efficient recycling technology is essential to reduce plastic pollution. Many technologies have been employed to enhance plastic recycling. Among them, blockchain is promising for plastic recycling and circular economy (CE). Blockchain, a distributed ledger, consists of some ordered blocks which are unchangeable. This can be considered an exemplary way to push the transactions of their customers under the same blockchain technology. The research group used machine learning techniques to predict plastic generation globally so that they could see the impact it will make in the coming future. The students have used ARIMA – Auto-Regressive Integrated Moving Average for the study.

The potential idea is to utilize an approach wherein recyclers can keep track of generated waste as it moves through the various chains. A platform that works by tracking recycling activities across a local recycling supply chain on the Blockchain. When this will be publicly available, consumers can also use the ledger info to make more informed purchasing decisions. The Blockchain can be utilized to track individual items through the recycling supply chain by creating physical markers like QR codes.

The suggested Blockchain-based platform can be implemented in various nations with an autonomous waste collector and storage system. This process can be expanded to individual collectors and storage systems. The novel process will be created by incorporating a reward-based Blockchain scheme with the collaboration of global businesses and local waste collectors. The proposed model further allows the effective sharing of databases among various supply chains to create a CE.

Talking about the social implications of the research, the students firmly believe that the study will result in the introduction of new technology in the recycling industry and promote awareness about technology in rural areas. Developing a platform and implementing blockchain and other facilities will be the focus of these young innovative brains of SRM University-AP in the forthcoming days.

Read the full paper here: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169142

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