Reverse Logistics of End-of-Life Plastics Using Industrial IoT and LPWAN Technologies – A Proposed Solution for the Bottled Water Industry

Abstract The proliferation of the production of plastics when coupled with the high rates of landfilling and incineration of plastic waste, has an extremely negative impact on the environment and casts a long shadow over manufacturing companies, failing to manage efficiently their End-of-Life plastics and capture the financial and social benefits of a more circular and sustainable manufacturing practice. This paper proposes a LoRa-based plastic waste tracking solution, which utilizes information from LoRa end-nodes (sensors) embedded on product’s packaging, collects and analyzes smart packaging sensor information on a cloud-based control platform and provides reports, detailing waste land paths and highlighting land/sea plastic waste accumulation areas. The proposed solution aims to contribute in reducing plastic waste produced from bottled water manufacturers by enhancing the visibility of their Reverse Logistics, supporting their Product Life Management (PLM) efforts and last but not least, making them more compliant with the Extended Producer Responsibility policy (EPR).