Please describe your proposed solution
Background
Electronic waste (e-waste) is becoming a global problem due to the increasing number of electronic devices being produced and disposed of each year. The improper disposal of electronic waste (e-waste) is a growing global concern, leading to environmental pollution and health hazards, affecting climate change. In Ghana, a large amount of e-waste is generated, with only a fraction being properly processed by formal e-waste recyclers. The absence of certified e-waste collectors, coupled with the lack of accessible and affordable repair services, contribute to the indiscriminate dumping of devices and the increase in e-waste levels. According to a study conducted by Switch Africa, “an estimated 171,000 tons of e-waste was generated in 2011 in Ghana, with a mere 0.2% processed by formal e-waste recyclers. The remaining 99.98% was handled by an informal sector consisting of a widespread network of unlicensed collectors, intermediaries, scrap dealers and dismantlers specializing in the manual disassembly and trading of post-consumer electronics. A lack of proper environmental, health and safety safeguards among these actors’ results in massive environmental pollution and negatively affects the physical well-being of thousands of people”. The growing problem of e-waste could be addressed by making it easier for people to recycle or repair their electronic devices. This could be accomplished by establishment of a network of licensed and certified e-waste collectors, readily accessible for the purpose of gathering e-waste and facilitating its recycling and by providing more accessible repair services. Additionally, the availability of convenient repair services would provide device users with an alternative option to have their electronic devices fixed instead of resorting to indiscriminate dumping when they encounter issues. Such measures would effectively prolong the lifespan of electronic devices and contribute to reducing their environmental impact. By giving people more options on how to dispose of their old electronics, we can help to reduce the amount of e-waste that ends up in landfills and incinerators. Therefore, to tackle this issue, there is the need to develop a decentralized application (DApp) that connects device users with repair experts and e-waste collectors, incentivizing proper device repair, disposal, and recycling.
The proposed Decentralized Application aims to provide a platform where device users can easily access the services of e-waste collectors and repair experts, reducing the need to prematurely dispose of their devices. By this project our team seeks not only to address an environmental problem, which contribute to climate change but also create a conducive working environment for business transaction in the informal sector that will also facilitate the adoption and integration of the cardano dapp infrastructure in the business operation of entrepreneurs.
In light of the framework of the objective of the challenge setting, we’re convinced that the end goal of our project makes it suitable for the Cardano open-concept. Aside the project serving as a marketplace for transaction, the central theme of proposal focused on a solution that helps solve an environmental problem. The main objectives of this project are twofold:
- Tackle the issue of E-waste in Ghana
- Establish a platform where experts and device users can come together to engage in business transaction
THE DECENTRALIZED APPLICATION
The proposed DApp would be built on the Cardano blockchain and would use smart contracts to automate the repair collection and recycling of electronic devices. The DApp platform will connect device users with repair specialist and e-waste collectors, incentivizing them to repair and properly dispose of their devices. The DApp would be divided into two main components: the Collection Component and Repair Component.
How does it work?
The DApp platform will provide unique identification for tech repair experts and e-waste collectors. The unique identification system will be develop using AtalaPRISM, which will assign a digital ID to each repair experts and e-waste collectors. This ID serves as a virtual "business card" and makes it simple for individuals with broken devices to find the right repair specialist or e-waste collector for their needs. In Ghana the difficulty in getting certified e-waste collectors and quality repair services due to proximity and cost of transport compel device owners to prematurely dispose of their devices into the environment, increasing the level of E-waste. However, by this initiative, we seek to discourage this practice by providing damaged devices a new life through the services of repair experts so as to prevent device owners from resorting to dumping old devices into the environment for new devices. Ultimately, we anticipate that this initiative will help reduce e-waste in various community.
COLLECTION COMPONENT
The collection Component would incentivize repair specialist to properly dispose of devices that cannot be refurbished. In Ghana, repair shops are often the hub of technological devices cannot be refurbished or repaired. These devices end up either at recycling centers or dumped into the environment indiscriminately. Often, these devices end up in the environment which poses health problems when they’re mostly burnt–polluting the atmosphere. The underlyning reason for the indiscriminate disposal into the environment is the difficult in locating certified e-waste collectors, whose responsibility is to collect and convey e-waste to recycling firms. This leaves repair specialist the only option of dumping damaged electronic devices (devices beyond repair) into the environment indiscriminately. In light of this, this phase of the project focuses on connecting the repair specialist to e-waste collectors via the development of a decentralized application. Linking devices owners to e-waste collectors will ease e-waste collections. The purpose is to curb the indiscriminate dumping of electronic devices into the environment by device users and repair shops. Ideally, by easy identification and access to e-waste collectors, we’re convinced that the devices owners and repair shops will properly dispose of their e-waste. With the introduction of the DApp platform, the idea is to allow both parties (repair specialist and e-waste collectors) to negotiate the price for the collection services. Once a price has been agreed upon, a smart contract would be created to automate the transaction. Under this phase, the platform will be designed to deploy smart contracts to verify the condition of e-waste device and assign a value to it. The end goal is to ensure that by this initiative e-waste collectors are properly incentivized for their services. The device owners would be paid in cryptocurrency that could be used to purchase goods and services within the DApp ecosystem. The DApp platform will not only connect devices owners and repair shops to e-waste collectors, and will also link device users to repair experts for their services.
REPAIR COMPONENT
In Africa, slightly used devices are high among the population and the situation is not different in Ghana. Both rural and urban population with low income rely on electronic devices such as phones, laptops, and tablets to interact on the internet and do their daily activities. These tech devices often require repair services when they breakdown. However, the absence of tech repair specialist (tech repair specialist are entrepreneurs in the informal market of Ghana whose specialties include repairing broken devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, and tech devices) often forces device users to dump their devices indiscriminately into the environment.
Meanwhile, aside the central business district of Ghana and a few parts of the country, tech repair experts are often difficult to locate in some parts of the country. At the moment, a few repair experts are mostly scattered across the country, with majority centered within the business district, making accessibility and affordability of their services difficult. Therefore, some communities face a challenge accessing the services of these repairmen. This often leaves them with the only option of dumping them into the environment indiscriminately.
Under the Repair component of this project, the DApp platform which will be developed in this project using Plutus will also connect tech repair specialist directly with device users so as to enable the interaction between tech repair specialist and device users through smart contract. The smart contract would have the main function to show proof of fault (information about broken devices); transparent pricing, and distribution of incentives. The on-chain solution aims at providing a cost-effective and quality P2P ecosystem by identifying repair experts and connecting them to device users.
These talented entrepreneurs specialize in fixing devices like smartphones, laptops, and tablets. Our goal is to make it easier for people with broken devices to connect with these repairmen and get their devices fixed quickly.
MAJOR RISK
The main challenge the project is likely to face is the difficulty in enrolling repair specialist unto the Dapp platform. In that regard, we would provide a short video description on how to enroll unto the platform and also provide an incentive program which will be designed to reward tech repair specialist a small amount of Cardano for enrolling on the Dapp platform. In this way, we would also introduce cardano to the repair specialist community.
Conclusion
The proposed DApp would provide a decentralized solution to the problem of e-waste by incentivizing the proper disposal, refurbishment, and recycling of electronic devices. The use of smart contracts would automate the process, making it more efficient and reducing the risk of fraud. The DApp would also provide device owners with a monetary reward for their devices, which would encourage them to properly dispose of their devices and reduce e-waste. The use of cryptocurrency within the DApp ecosystem would create a self-sustaining economy that would benefit all participants.