Advances in Sustainable Energies and Environment

Advances in Sustainable Energies and Environment

Enabling the circular economy in e-waste management: a blockchain and IoT-based mixed loop supply chain approach

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Department of Computer Engineering, Shahab Danesh University, Qom, Iran
Abstract
The exponential growth of electronic waste (e-waste), projected to reach 82 million tonnes by 2030, presents a dual crisis of environmental toxicity and economic inefficiency. The primary objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a novel "Mixed Loop" Supply Chain model that utilizes a digital twin architecture to dynamically route e-waste into either high-value reuse (closed-loop) or material recovery (open-loop) pathways based on real-time condition assessment. We implemented this architecture using a simulation on the Solana blockchain Devnet and IoT sensor networks to ensure immutable traceability and automated decision-making. Previous studies have relied on energy-intensive Proof-of-Work protocols. In contrast, our comparative analysis demonstrated that Solana’s Proof-of-History mechanism reduced the energy cost per transaction to 0.00000412 kWh. This efficiency makes the protocol approximately 1,500 times more efficient than Ethereum Proof-of-Stake and 200 times more efficient than the centralized Visa network. Furthermore, the utilization of State Compression technology lowered the cost of minting asset records to ~$0.000113, rendering the tracking of low-value scrap materials economically viable. These findings confirm that high-throughput, low-carbon blockchain infrastructures can effectively operationalize the circular economy without incurring a prohibitive environmental footprint. Consequently, we recommend that policymakers leverage this granular data capability to enforce stricter collection targets and transition from weight-based compliance to impact-based material recovery metrics.

Graphical Abstract

Enabling the circular economy in e-waste management: a blockchain and IoT-based mixed loop supply chain approach
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