Citation

Nagarajan, Deivanayagampillai and Thangavel, Bhuvaneswari and Suppiah, Yasothei and Anbalagan, Kanchana (2026) Blockchain-powered food waste management in enhancing traceability and sustainability. In: Data-driven Decision Making and Soft Computing. CRC Press, pp. 105-120. ISBN 978-100363483-6, 978-104106297-4, 978-104106314-8

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Abstract

We present in this paper a blockchain-based Internet of Things (IoT)-supported system to monitor post-production business operations, activities, and processes executed on electronic devices. The system employs five smart contracts to record users’ operations on an immutable distributed ledger to guarantee transparency, traceability, and security in the operations of the firm. We implement a distributed storage system to store large files such as photos of e-waste materials, products, and stakeholders’ licenses. The system under proposal is constructed upon the Ethereum blockchain, where the operations of the smart contract are audited based on gas consumption. The system’s feasibility and effectiveness are proven through an exhaustive cost and security analysis to ensure accountability and efficiency in handling e-waste and related business operations (Khan & Ahmad, 2022). This study presents a blockchain-enabled transparent traceability system along the food supply chain to track the movement of box leftovers from the restaurants to the nongovernmental organizations and then to the poor. The system relies on QR codes and near field communication (NFC) tags to allow safe access to the food packaging information to ensure authenticity and safety. With the advent of blockchain technology, the system offers higher transparency, minimizes fraud, theft, and counterfeiting, and makes the entire distribution of the leftover food more efficient, promoting an enhanced and sustainable supply chain (Patil et al. 2023). This study presents a blockchain system that will help reduce food wastage within hospitality operations to encourage a sustainable food system. This sustainable food system can be considered the interconnected web of stakeholders included within the sustainable management of food resources within the hospitality industry. The system categorizes these stakeholders as food resource managing entities that include food donation groups and recycling companies to appreciate the crucial role they play in managing surplus food. With the use of the blockchain system, businesses are capable of monitoring the source, movement, and end-of-life handling of food products in real time to allow efficient inventory planning, minimization of food wastage, and operational optimization. The system also offers higher transparency and accountability to ensure efficient handling of food wastage to encourage an efficient and sustainable food chain (Omar et al. 2024). This chapter presents a system based on blockchain to track and manage recyclable plastic waste using the Ethereum blockchain and decentralized storage. The system has a reward mechanism to motivate people to recycle, promoting participation. The system enhances trust and accountability among the stakeholders within the system to guarantee fair and open reward distribution. The research provides an extensive explanation of the system architecture along with test and implementation results to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the system (Alnuaimi et al. 2023). We are proposing a Blockchain-based Model of Solid Waste Management that will help municipalities streamline the efficiency of the waste management process. We are proposing a blockchain system that will be under the control of the municipality, where the customer companies will pay to join the platform to avail the services provided by the supplier companies under the control of the municipality. The burden to both the supplier and consumer companies has been taken care of. Also, an optimization model has been created to find the maximum amount of waste that can be traded between the supplier and consumer companies to maximize the profit based upon the parameters like the supplier companies, consumer companies, and the processing capacity of the customer companies, along with some other restrictions like maximum storage capacity, storage, and the constraint of transportation. Also, the cost factor incurred in the usage of blockchain has been approximated from the various use cases given by the companies providing the blockchain solution (Gopalakrishnan et al. 2021). This study examines the intersection of material flow analysis and blockchain technology to enable end-to-end traceability along the food system. Blockchain offers decentralized, immutable digital record keeping that enhances trust and accountability among stakeholders. The authors propose a framework to quantify food loss and waste through a hybrid approach—that uses material flow analysis to quantify and define food loss and waste flows, and blockchain technology to simplify partnership networks and allow the integration of circular economy concepts. This intersection eventually enhances the minimization of food loss and waste along the food system (Bux & Amicarelli, 2024). This chapter presents a system based on blockchain to manage the tracking of waste that enables the stakeholders to view corresponding information and determine the contribution to the system. Most conventional waste management technologies are non-transparent and lack stakeholder coordination, thereby becoming less efficient. The efficiency of the waste management process can be enhanced using the tamper-resistant property of the blockchain. The system automates the process of managing the waste using smart contracts. In addition to that, a framework to allow users to select the best service based on the information sharing preferences, fee, reliability, and desired security has been created (Gopalakrishnan et al. 2020). IoT is transforming every aspect of life, enhancing the overall efficiency and quality. Urban solid waste management in developing countries is one such issue that has gone unsolved due to a lack of proper planning and limited resource availability within urban areas. This chapter introduces an IoT-based new system to manage solid waste that has particularly been designed for developing countries and urban areas with a large population. This chapter intends to address the issue through a blockchain-supported vehicle ad-hoc system that will ensure efficient collection of the waste, improved resource distribution, and urban sustainability (Saad et al. 2023). This study deals with the application of machine learning algorithms to process large volumes of food supply chain datasets to generate forecasting models for market demand, optimize stockpiles, and suppress over-production. The application of IoT sensors also makes it possible to track crucial parameters that affect food spoilage in real time, ensure ideal storage conditions, and automate interventions to prevent wastage. After the explanation of the fundamentals of the aforementioned technologies, this chapter presents case studies that demonstrate how these are employed in real-world contexts and how effectively the challenges of the food supply chain are tackled. This chapter also presents crucial challenges and opportunities like privacy concerns, protection of data, and the divide that need to be taken carefully into account. This chapter finalizes the necessity for governments, private industries, and research institutes to join together to tackle the challenges and ensure the successful integration of the aforementioned technologies (Öztürk et al. 2025). This study examines the convergence of food waste management strategies using blockchain technology within the hospitality industry. The study examines how the integration of blockchain can enhance operational efficiency, streamline food waste minimization strategies, and strengthen customer loyalty within the hotel industry. This study also examines food waste management challenges within the hospitality industry and presents blockchain solutions to ensure greater transparency, traceability, and sustainability within the food supply chain. This study provides an impetus to future research to further investigate how to utilize blockchain technology to optimize food waste management to ensure greater efficiency within the sector (Stroumpoulis et al. 2021). This study investigates the use of blockchain technology to transform the waste management system under different use case scenarios. It offers pertinent possibilities such as real-time monitoring of the waste, resource optimization, regulatory compliance, safe documentation, and fleet optimization. This study offers a smart contract-based blockchain framework to support automated basic functions of the waste management system within smart cities. The current solutions to the problem using blockchain are also compared based on crucial parameters. The study further discusses ongoing research work and real-world case studies that offer valuable insights about the practical application of the use of blockchain technology to manage waste (Ahmad et al. 2021). This chapter presents a blockchain smart system for managing waste that will help address the adverse effects of the traditional method of managing waste. The system enhances optimization of storage, efficient collection, and safe disposal of solid waste through the use of blockchain technology, ultimately leading to an improved environment. Smart waste management through the use of the IoT has gained pace, but the use of blockchain has limited research. This research states the challenges of the traditional system of managing waste, provides blockchain algorithms to address the challenges, and presents a comparative analysis showing how the proposed system enhances the traditional method through higher transparency, security, and efficiency (Sen Gupta et al. 2021). This study addresses the integration of blockchain technology within the waste sector, particularly within an operational waste management company. The study focuses on the use of smart contracts to automate the process of recycling to promote higher transparency and accountability. The digital product passport is also redefined within the circular economy and the recycling process to ensure efficient use of the resource (Bułkowska et al. 2023). This study provides a smart contract-supported framework based on blockchain to encourage the collaboration of supermarkets and other stakeholders to avoid food wastage and ensure sustainability. Smart contracts are one of the core components of the application of blockchain technology that enable the automatic execution of contracts upon the fulfillment of certain conditions. This study presents the advantages that smart contracts provide to supermarkets to effectively and sustainably manage food wastage (Aggarwal et al. 2024). This study offers a blockchain system based on smart contracts to encourage cooperation between stakeholders and supermarkets to curb food wastage and encourage sustainability. Smart contracts are one of the notable features of the blockchain system that enable the enforcement of contracts automatically once the conditions are met. This study discusses the advantages of smart contracts to streamline the management of food wastage in supermarkets to ensure efficiency, accountability, and transparency along the supply chain (Schmelz et al. 2019). This study examines how the application of blockchain technology can address the requirements of hospital waste management. This is achieved through a comprehensive systematic literature review to ascertain and critically assess the application of blockchain within this sector. The applications are categorized into various steps that encompass the generation of the waste, segregation and packaging, containers for storage, collection, transient storage, treatment, transport (on-site and off-site), final disposal, training hospital staff, regulations compliance, sewerage handling, use of energy, and recycling and reuse of the waste. This study also provides the current challenges and limitations within each step, identifies research gaps, and offers future directions to integrate the use of blockchain technology effectively within hospital waste management (Bamakan et al. 2022). This chapter delves into the challenges of implementing blockchain technology in the management of waste, providing valuable insights into its practical use. It presents successful uses of the technology within the sector, noting how it has the capability to promote greater transparency, accountability, and care for the environment through tracking. The argument presented supports the use of blockchain solutions to streamline the use of waste management to promote sustainable development (Kumar et al. 2024). A blockchain-based food traceability system enhances transparency to effectively fulfill the basic food necessities of the beneficiaries. The proposed model offers policymakers the ability to generate an extensive understanding of the prevailing operational issues and provides valuable recommendations to make wise judgments to tackle the alarming issue of food insecurity (Gupta & Shankar, 2024). This study presents a framework for an household water treatment (HWT) system based on blockchain to enable government regulators to gain information that is relevant to them and enhance the efficiency of HWT. The system is described from various perspectives, including infrastructure, blockchain services, functions, and the role of the users, based on six essential information managing functions. This study also discusses the benefits of using blockchain to manage HWT and the challenges that need to be addressed. This research improves the application of blockchain to solid waste management through embedding it in the management of HWT, making valuable theoretical and practical contributions (Song et al. 2022). This study models blockchain technology using Bitcoin-based single and interval-valued neutrosophic graphs to analyze transaction reliability (Nagarajan et al., 2019). This study develops a fuzzy inventory model for NVOCC returnable containers with price-dependent demand, incorporating empty container repositioning to address import–export imbalances (Rajeswari et al. 2021). This work presents a consistency- and consensus-driven group decision-making approach using NMPRs and INMPRs, supported by goal programming models to manage preference consistency (Kanchana et al., 2024).

Item Type:	Book Section
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Blockchain, Chains, Crime, Electronic Waste, Food safety
Subjects:	T Technology > TD Environmental technology. Sanitary engineering > TD895-899 Industrial and factory sanitation
Divisions:	Faculty of Engineering and Technology (FET)
Depositing User:	Ms Rosnani Abd Wahab
Date Deposited:	03 Sep 2026 02:39
Last Modified:	03 Sep 2026 02:39
URII:	http://shdl.mmu.edu.my/id/eprint/16583

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