Two mainstream topics have been widely discussed over the past few years: ways to reduce the human impact on nature and the way that the industrial revolution 4.0 changes industries. The aim of this research topic is to analyse the positive and negative factors of big data implementation in the sector of cryptocurrency (as part of the industrial revolution 4.0) and in the sector of municipal waste management. The analysis reveals the differences and similarities between the cryptocurrency and municipal waste management sectors in the context of big data. The findings are significant for the estimation of the technological development of digitalized and non-digitalized sectors.