Rhenus & Commerzbank Work on Smart Waste Management

Rhenus Data Office, a service provider in the field of document and data destruction as well as document and disposal logistics, and Commerzbank AG are working together to closely integrate physical and financial supply chains. They are leveraging technologies in the areas of the Internet of Things (IoT), IoT sensors, and Distributed Ledger Technologies (DLT), which are being developed as part of Enterprise Labs at the Fraunhofer Institute for Material Flow and Logistics (IML).

The fill level sensor ITCPRO developed at Fraunhofer IML, along with various systems along the supply chain, provides event-based data. This data is securely and transparently stored in a Distributed Ledger (DL) for the process participants. When the ITCPRO triggers a fill level event, the collection of data protection containers is handled by Rhenus Data Office. Smart contracts, or intelligent electronic contracts, form the basis for this process. They check the process parameters against each other. If all agreed conditions are met, the financial transaction is executed automatically. Rhenus relies on a digital and decentralized ledger, which ensures greater transparency along the financial flow. On a platform established by Rhenus and Commerzbank, Rhenus customers will be able to view contract data, the current fill level of recycling containers, and the status of disposal at any time in the future.

“In addition to fully automated collection through IoT sensors, the Rhenus Group has recently also completely digitized the order for direct debit collection using Commerzbank’s payment solution. Our expectation is that time-consuming invoice checks and monitoring of payment inflows and outflows will belong to the past. We rely on DLT and Commerzbank as a neutral financial service provider,” added Dr. Stephan Peters, member of the board of the Rhenus Group.

“We want to digitize and automate our customers’ supply chains with our DLT-based solutions to make them more efficient, resilient, and productive. The smart waste management use case with Rhenus is a striking example of how attractive this technological approach is,” said Brigitte Réthier, Executive Board Member for Institutional Clients & Transaction Banking Sales at Commerzbank.

Economically Sustainable Through Secure Networking

By using modern technologies, processes for the Rhenus Group and its customers become more efficient, as employees no longer need to check on-site whether recycling containers are full. This saves time, resources, and costs and is good for the environment. Unnecessary trips to half-full containers are now a thing of the past. Traffic is alleviated through targeted vehicle use, and fuel costs and CO2 emissions decrease. At the same time, technology standards and reference architectures ensure secure and sovereign data exchange between all parties.

First Address in Holistic Logistics Research On Board

Rhenus and Commerzbank are Enterprise Lab partners of Fraunhofer IML in Dortmund. The scientists at the institute develop innovative electronics and DLT solutions for logistics. “With the DLT solution as a decentralized system, all companies have equal access to information. This creates trust, especially in the automation of order billing. Only then is it possible to automate processes end-to-end and establish synchronization between material, information, and financial flows,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Dr. Michael Henke, director of Fraunhofer IML.

Photo: © Rhenus Office Systems / Image Caption: The smart recycling containers help to make supply chains more efficient, resilient, and productive.