Establishing Traceability of Recycled Materials Using Blockchain Technology

Recently, the UK launched a project to develop a blockchain solution to provide transparency in the advanced recycling value chain
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Called Trackcycle, the project, funded by Innovate UK, was initiated by sustainable supply chain and CO2 traceability supplier Circulor, Total Energy and chemical recycler Recycling Technologies
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Described by Valérie Goff, Senior Vice President of Polymers at Total Energy, as an "innovative example of developing more traceable renewable polymers", the collaboration will also help drive advanced recycling
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Chemical recycling is one area where the UK has recently invested heavily: last October, for example, UK Research and Innovation, through the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, funded four projects aimed at improving the country’s existing plastic packaging recycling capacity.
$20 million was provided, and the funding was further complemented by more than $65 million in industry investment
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Three of the projects aim to further develop advanced recycling technologies
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The goal of the Trackcycle project is to achieve full traceability and accurate labelling of recycled materials from the source of waste to the use of recycled polymers in new production streams
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Total Energy and Recycling Technologies will focus on improving the traceability of raw materials for post-consumer plastic waste, especially hard-to-recycle plastics, which are used in the production of recycled polymers
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The alliance will work closely with several plastic waste suppliers, including a multinational FMCG company that provides post-industrial waste
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In this way, all stakeholders in the polymer industry have a clear view of the origin and quality of the material
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As Adrian Griffiths, CEO of Recycling Technologies, points out, “Full transparency is key to gaining trust, incentivizing sustainable practices and providing stakeholders with an optimized supply and logistics value chain that can help improve recycling rates
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In addition, manufacturers must be able to insure the material going in and out of factories, affected by the UK government's plastic packaging tax on packaging that does not contain 30% recycled plastic and the EU's packaging tax that will come into effect next year
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Circulor CEO Douglas Johnson Poensgen concluded: "Circulor's traceability platform will play an important role in introducing visibility that is currently lacking
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