Tackling energy, waste, and environmental challenges with Bluetooth® driven innovation

The road to a sustainable future is far from complete, despite significant progress over the past decade. Recent climate events such as the deadly heat waves in Europe, the Global El Niño transition, and numerous floods and wildfires have made it clear that much work remains to be done. Sustainable business practices, such as recycling or going paperless alone, are not enough; they must be complemented by technological innovation. Bluetooth® technology is well suited to this use case due to its ultra-low-power operation, cost efficiency, and deployment flexibility. In a new market research note, ABI Research and the Bluetooth® SIG assess how Bluetooth® enabled solutions like sensors, tags, and labels address key sustainability challenges across energy, waste, and environmental stress.

Challenge #1: Too much energy is wasted in buildings

ABI Research estimates that lighting accounts for 12-15 percent of global electricity usage. Bluetooth® technology enables building managers to cut their electric bills through intelligent systems, notably Bluetooth® Networked Lighting Control (NLC). These smart lighting systems detect vacancy and environmental conditions. This way, lights automatically turn off when nobody is in a room or hallway.

Bluetooth® NLC capabilities can also be applied to HVAC systems, reducing heating and cooling demand. This is especially valuable as the number of air conditioning units alone is expected to more than triple by 2050. To help guide the development and implementation of these solutions, the new Bluetooth® HVAC Integration NLC Profile specification defines how thermostats use occupancy sensing to adjust temperatures in real time automatically.

Challenge #2: Supply chains generate massive waste from spoilage, overproduction, and poor visibility

Bluetooth® technology has also proven invaluable in preventing waste within the supply chain. Every year, more than US$163 billion worth of inventory is discarded due to spoilage or overproduction. Retailers increasingly require supply chain visibility tools that provide vital real-time product tracking information.

One key solution embraced by retail giants is Bluetooth® enabled smart labels, which track temperature, humidity, motion, light exposure, location, and other essential metrics. Smart labels can be installed at the pallet, case, or item level. These insights enable retailers and supply chain managers to understand when perishable goods are at risk of spoilage. For example, a major grocer leveraged Wiliot’s battery-free Bluetooth® tags to track cases of strawberries. The company realized temperatures were dropping significantly in transit. This prompted logistics teams to take proactive measures, reducing waste across the set of trailers in question. Moreover, the company optimized its supply chain routes to reduce fuel consumption, further mitigating environmental impact (Scope 3 emissions).

ABI Research is also seeing broader support for and adoption of Bluetooth® Electronic Shelf Labels (ESLs). In sustainability terms, Bluetooth ESLs provide the following benefits:

• Minimizes paper and printing waste
• Reduces perishable item wastage via dynamic pricing or expiration date alerts
• Enhances corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts by providing transparency into a product’s sustainability information (recycling, carbon footprint, etc.)
• Enables more accurate inventory level tracking
• Activates promotions on overstocked items to reduce waste and minimize losses on seasonal products

Challenge #3: Resource leaks and ecosystem stress are hard to detect before damage is done

Some of the most environmentally damaging events happen gradually and go unnoticed until it’s too late. Think of water leaks, degraded ecosystems, underperforming energy systems, or inefficient farming practices. By the time an event occurs and stakeholders are aware, resources have already been depleted. Bluetooth® enabled technologies such as tags and sensors deliver the data-driven insights needed to prevent leaks, preserve wildlife, and bridge the world to a renewable energy future.

Leak detection

The UN recently sounded the alarm about a global water bankruptcy. According to a report, this crisis is caused by persistent groundwater depletion, water overallocation, land and soil degradation, deforestation, pollution, and global heating. Water leaks continue to be a major negative force on societies due to resource depletion, environmental damage, and poor water utilization. Bluetooth® leak detection sensors are increasingly installed on toilets, kitchen sinks, and HVAC equipment to provide early warnings of a leak. By 2030, ABI Research forecasts 18 million commercial leak sensors will be installed and eight million Bluetooth smart home water sensors will ship annually.

Ecosystem preservation

75 percent of global crop types relies on insect pollination to some degree. With beekeepers in the United States reporting an average loss of 62 percent of their colonies between June 2024 and February 2025, protecting bees is an existential imperative. Some commercial beekeepers use wireless Bluetooth® sensors to track crucial metrics such as hive temperature, humidity, activity, and acoustics. If environmental conditions fall out of the set parameters, key stakeholders will be alerted and can intervene accordingly.

Smart energy

Renewable energy generation is becoming far more distributed, requiring real-time monitoring to maintain reliability across the energy value chain. Bluetooth® sensors can improve visibility across grids, homes, commercial sites, and industrial facilities. In solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, Bluetooth® enabled microinverters support module-level monitoring, remote diagnostics, simplified maintenance, and improved energy yield. Bluetooth® technology can also enhance battery energy storage system (BESS) monitoring by tracking capacity and performance while helping identify potential issues earlier.

A cost and energy-efficient path toward sustainability

Tackling global sustainability challenges requires not just a change in business practices but also the adoption of innovative technologies. For many organizations, sustainability initiatives are an afterthought, especially for firms with limited financial resources. Bluetooth® enabled devices offer a viable path toward decarbonization as they are low cost, energy efficient, highly flexible, and increasingly standardized across industries. Bluetooth® technology delivers the reliable connectivity backbone necessary for asset tracking. The visibility layer built enables swift recognition of anomalies, helping reduce waste, prevent environmental damage, extend equipment lifespans, and optimize when, how, and where resources are allocated.

Download the market research note, How Bluetooth® is shaping a more sustainable future, for a full analysis.