The UK won’t achieve its net zero carbon emissions goal without renewed progress on recycling and waste management, the National Infrastructure Commission warned last year. Alongside renewable energy, the move to a circular economy – in which products are reused and recycled as a matter of course – is seen as vital to averting climate change. This requires tracing products and their materials across supply chains, a task to which blockchain is ideally suited, according to its advocates. And while a flurry of pilot projects has not led to widespread adoption so far, they may yet be proven right.
Use cases for blockchain in the circular economy
While much of the fight against climate change is focused on energy production, 45% of global emissions are produced during the manufacturing of goods. Increasing recycling and reuse in five areas – cement, aluminium, steel, plastics and food – could cut those emissions by nearly half, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, equivalent to eliminating all emissions from transport. Meanwhile, 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress is caused by resource extraction or processing.
Progress on reuse and recycling has been limited so far, however. According to EU figures, the UK’s rate of circular material reuse – the proportion of materials that are reused or recycled – crept up from 14% in 2020 to 16% in 2019 (The EU average in 2020 was 12%).
Continue reading: https://techmonitor.ai/leadership/sustainability/blockchain-may-yet-prove-worth-in-circular-economy
Use cases for blockchain in the circular economy
While much of the fight against climate change is focused on energy production, 45% of global emissions are produced during the manufacturing of goods. Increasing recycling and reuse in five areas – cement, aluminium, steel, plastics and food – could cut those emissions by nearly half, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, equivalent to eliminating all emissions from transport. Meanwhile, 90% of biodiversity loss and water stress is caused by resource extraction or processing.
Progress on reuse and recycling has been limited so far, however. According to EU figures, the UK’s rate of circular material reuse – the proportion of materials that are reused or recycled – crept up from 14% in 2020 to 16% in 2019 (The EU average in 2020 was 12%).
Continue reading: https://techmonitor.ai/leadership/sustainability/blockchain-may-yet-prove-worth-in-circular-economy
