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R&D software technology developer Crypto Group is partnering with green energy producer CETS Technologies to pilot a blockchain system to track waste as it moves from the curb to the last stop, be it landfill, energy conversion facility or other.
Blockchain is an electronic, decentralized ledger of multiple build records (called blocks) that are linked and stored in a database.
Russ Lema, co-founder of R&D Crypto Group, the creators of Invizion, which is the blockchain technology project, point out two main features and advantages of the company’s technology: the data cannot be changed because the records are encrypted. ETThe automated process of the tracking system cannot be interrupted, even if a location or group of machines has technical problems.
The ability to prevent modification of chain of custody data and mitigate human error are perhaps its strongest attributes, Lema says.
“Many waste tracking systems today are done manually or semi-manually with logs, so there is a lot of human interaction and humans make mistakes. Systems like Invizion can ensure accuracy while providing data security and facilitating transparency. “
As such, he says, it can support waste professionals with audits, compliance and accountability.
“The data is verifiable and can be used to provide information to government agencies, showing how much waste has been treated and how it moves. from one place to another. It can track renewable by-products and can validate carbon credits and CO2 offsets, “says Lema.
He and the co-founder Daryl Taylor they intend to sell it for other practical applications, i.e. increase operational efficiency, as the system can be used to analyze data, to instance to determine which locations generate much more junk than others in order to facilitate redirection.
The key components of the technology, which will be presented at a United Nations Leaders Summit scheduled for June 2021, are a digital “token”, a “smart contract” and an IoT network of connected sensors.
Tokens are created for each entity along the chain of custody, which identify that entity and provide a visual representation of the material as it moves in real time. From there a separate smart contract is set up in each link along the chain of custody (hauler, transfer station, etc.), which contains the data collected by the sensors, which it could be for example a weight sensor or a chemical compound sensor connected to a garbage truck or other equipment.
An actual transaction that tracks the waste treatment lifecycle may look like this:
A smart contract and token are created at the generator location; another contract is created when the transporter transfers the waste to the truck; and the token is transferred from the generator location to the truck, with the data measured there such as material and weight. Then the token moves to the processing plant where another contract is created, and from there separate contracts are created to document the output of each type of material (recycled plastic, recycled metal, fertilizer, gas captured for reuse, etc. ).
CETS Athens, GA, co-owner of Invizion technology, hosts the first proof-of-concept project, which will be transformed into the CETS pilot project, where it converts waste into energy for Lane, SC
It will test Invizion, following the process starting from the pavement, up to the waste transfer station and the gasification plant located there, where multiple waste streams are converted into renewable energy.
“So we will keep track of the entire waste management process, “he says Vincent I. White, CETS Technologies CEO.
He goes on to say, “Everyone is talking about zero waste, but no one has a scalable and systematic approach to making it happen. We can make the system more efficient and cost-effective and empower people while monitoring waste.”
Invizion and CETS were introduced by a mutual friend on business.
“We had already decided to design a waste tracking system for waste reduction using blockchain and CETS needed a system for its own compliance purposes to track where the waste started to the end of the process,” says Lema . “We talked and realized that our app was a perfect model for their closed loop system.”
Since then, Invizion has moved on from the conceptual design stage and it is working on the pilot to test on a small scale, with confident plans to expand on a commercial scale after demonstrating this during Operation CET.
The plan for next year’s United Nations Leadership Summit is to demonstrate the entire waste monitoring process through a virtual wizard. Lema and White are preparing to be able to show participants a live version of the gasification process.
“Within the gasification process is where the sensors are, so we can show the measurement of what goes in and what goes out. This model will show how the reject process is tracked from collection to product output and how the information acquired is displayed, ”says Lema.
White believes the technology could potentially support a major paradigm shift, commenting that some states are only reporting on about 30-40% of their municipal solid waste and wants everything monitored.
“Not only should waste be tracked by the municipalities responsible for their citizens’ waste, but also industrial and food waste and other streams that are not fully documented, quantified or controlled.
I think this will be a catalyst for the transition from a linear to a circular economy. Hence, the waste will no longer be accumulated but rather transformed. Keeping track of that process or lifecycle will help achieve this, ”says White.
