ETD

• blockchain
• circular economy
• Electronic waste management
• software engineering

This thesis fits into the context of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)
management, proposing a permissioned blockchain network and a set of smart contracts
to enable transparent, secure, and scalable monitoring of the industrial process relating to
a load of e-waste entering a treatment plant.
The system aims to solve the traceability problem of operations undergone by a waste load
to obtain a product, or new waste to be sent to another plant. Through a series of
transactions that can be launched on the ledger and the events related to them, it is
possible to retrospectively trace all prior phases resulting in a specific material or waste.
The permissioned blockchain network, built using the open-source Ethereum client
Hyperledger Besu, permits the specification of nodes that can communicate with each
other, along with ensuring fault tolerance, and of accounts that can perform operations on
the ledger.
A role-based smart contract access control policy enables the assignment and revocation
of permission to launch transactions for a specific smart contract on the blockchain. This
allows only accounts corresponding to authorized plant stakeholders to record relevant
information about the various steps of the process.
A demonstration application has been developed that connects to the network and offers
the opportunity to try out all implemented features via accounts with distinct roles.