Innovative training based on Blockchain technology applied to waste management Erasmus Project

Project Title

Innovative training based on Blockchain technology applied to waste management

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Research and innovation; ICT – new technologies – digital competences

Project Summary

The Blockchain technology is a new branch of study that has not yet been widely implemented in curricula. That is why BlockWASTE will serve as a base for the beginning of the training in Blockchain technology, demonstrating, through its implementation in the solid waste management, its applicability in the Circular Economy.

BACKGROUND
· Solid Waste Management:
Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a very rapid growth in demand for resources, all due to the industrialization processes taking place in emerging economies, and the continued high use of resources in developed countries. More specifically, the amount of raw materials extracted, harvested and consumed worldwide has increased by 60% since 1980.

According to the United Nations, the world’s population will grow to 8.6 billion people by 2030 (7.6 now). In addition to the population increase, the economic development process in the emerging countries will generate an increase in the population belonging to the middle class of 3 billion people, which will lead to an excessive increase in consumption of raw materials and waste generation. It is for these reasons that linking economic development to the consumption of raw materials, the basis of the linear economy, will represent an unsustainable model for the economy, society and the environment.

Municipal waste constitutes approximately 7 to 10% of the total waste generated in the Union. It is estimated that global consumption of materials such as biomass, fossil fuels, metals and minerals will double in the next forty years, and that annual waste generation will increase by 70% by 2050. This waste stream is, however, among the most complex to manage, and the form of managing them generally gives a good indication of the quality of a country’s overall waste management system. Proper management of MSW requires transparency and reliability of the information that the agents involved process.

It is under this background that the concept of the circular economy appears as an important avenue of opportunity to change the model of production and consumption that has been in place since the previous industrial revolution.

· Blockchain:
A blockchain is just a database that is distributed among different participants (computer servers), cryptographically protected and organized in blocks of transactions, mathematically related to each other. In short, we are talking about a decentralized database that can not be altered. And it is in this concept of inalterability where the main key of a chain of blocks resides it allows all participants to trust the information collected within the database, and that same database can not be modified, in order to avoid falsification of information and documentation.

The blockchain technology was born to support and make work an electronic payment system, but nowadays, any sector can find advantages if it applies this technology properly, such as the insurance sector, health, transport and logistics, industry (waste management, product quality, process verification, etc.) and many others, because it can help them to improve the management of the company, and also to discover and exploit new business models.

Today, the world’s major economic powers are investing on research and development projects based on blockchain technology. An example of this can be seen in China and the United States urging the country’s companies to take advantage of the opportunities offered by this technology, or in how the European Commission plans to allocate around 340 million euros to projects using blockchain technology by the present year 2020, especially in projects that seek to achieve the objectives of the circular economy.

OBJECTIVES
The BlockWASTE project will address the interoperability between waste management and blockchain technology, in order to promote its proper treatment through educational training, so that the data collected will be shared within a safe environment, where there is no room for uncertainty and mistrust between all parties involved.

For this purpose, the objectives of this project are as follows:
– Research on solid waste generated in cities and how it is being managed, so that it can be used to create an information base of good practices, in order to reintroduce waste into the value chain, promoting the idea of Intelligent Circular Cities.
– To identify the benefits of the Blockchain Technology within the municipal waste management (MSW) process.
– To create a study plan that allows the training of teachers and professionals of the organizations and companies of the sector, in the field of Waste Management, Circular Economy and Blockchain Technology.
– To develop an interactive tool based on Blockchain Technology, which will make it possible to put into practice how the data obtained from urban waste would be managed, thus visualizing the way in which the data is implemented in the blockchain and being able to evaluate different forms of management.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 281535 Eur

Project Coordinator

NATIONAL TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY OF ATHENS – NTUA & Country: EL

Project Partners

• TALLINNA TEHNIKAULIKOOL
• ASOCIACION EMPRESARIAL DE INVESTIGACION CENTRO TECNOLOGICO DEL MARMOL Y LA PIEDRA
• STICHTING SAXION
• FACHHOCHSCHULE BIELEFELD