UK – Circulor, TotalEnergies and Recycling Technologies have formed a partnership to develop a blockchain-enabled traceability solution for Hard-to-Recycle Plastics (HTRP).
Circulor is a provider of sustainable supply chain and dynamic CO2 traceability. TotalEnergies is an energy company (formerly Total), and Recycling Technologies a chemical recycler of plastic. The project is being assisted with financing from Innovate UK.
Teamwork
Project TRACKCYCLE will embed blockchain technology into the advanced recycling value chain. The aim is to provide a fully traceable and accurately labelled record of recycled materials. From the waste sourcing up to the use of recycled polymers in new production streams. This will provide all the stakeholders in the polymers industry with visibility of the provenance and quality of the materials entering and exiting their facilities.
As part of the TRACKCYCLE project, TotalEnergies and Recycling Technologies teams will leverage their industrial and R&D expertise. The companies intend to improve the traceability of feedstock from post-consumer plastic wastes used in the production of recycled polymers. The consortium will work closely with several plastic waste suppliers, including a multinational FMCG company that provides post-industrial waste.
Tax
The UK Government is introducing a plastic packaging tax next year on packaging that does not contain thirty percent recycled plastic, while the European Union will introduce a packaging levy. Both these initiatives further exemplify the need for accurate information on plastic recycling and its use in new materials.