Polytag, a world leader in tagging and tracing packaging to point of recycling, announces further developments with longstanding partner Biffa, a leader in sustainable waste management. The collaboration further extends coverage of Polytag’s network in the UK, laying critical groundwork for real-time packaging traceability in the capital city, London, for household brands.
Polytag’s growing network of Plastic Detection Units situated in recycling centres across the UK provides never-before-seen insights – at barcode level - on the journey of packaging through to recycling, designed to unlock data to drive greater efficiency and sustainability-focused decision-making in the supply chain.
The firm’s award-winning packaging detection technology used by many brands and retailers is now installed at Biffa’s Edmonton Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) in North London. This latest installation - part of Polytag’s Ecotrace Programme – enables brands to view and evaluate data capture of their fluorescent UV-tagged packaging across an even greater share of UK recycled material as it enters Biffa’s London facility.
Biffa’s Edmonton MRF, one of the UK’s largest, handles 250,000 tonnes of waste annually, originating from household recycling collections primarily in London and surrounding counties. Polytag's technology used at this high-volume facility marks a significant step towards understanding and optimising the use of data capture in recycling and supports Polytag brand clients with meaningful insights into recycling rates in this densely populated region.
This collaboration comes as Polytag makes considerable progress on its mission to install 12 Plastic Detection Units at MRFs across the UK, which will provide coverage of over 50% of the UK’s household recycling stream through the Ecotrace Programme. Since the Programme was launched in July 2024, the Plastic Detection Unit at Biffa’s Edmonton MRF marks the seventh installation.
The extension of Polytag and Biffa’s unique collaboration comes alongside the recent news of Polytag’s partnership with Citeo, global packaging compliance leader, to track the success rate of its Plastic Detection Units in detecting UV-tagged single-use plastic bottles entering one of Europe’s busiest MRFs in France. The live test results found a 100% success rate in detecting the UV tags, demonstrating the effectiveness of Polytag’s technology.
Biffa’s involvement in the Ecotrace Programme follows the groundbreaking "Bottle to Bottle" pilot project led by Polytag in partnership with RECOUP in 2023, where Co-op's water bottles alongside Aldi and Ocado Retail's milk bottles were marked with UV tags and traced at Biffa's Teesside MRF in the northeast of England.
Craig Konczak, Business Director - Biffa MRFs & PRFs, said: “With growing demand for improved visibility and traceability of packaging and products across the value chain, from cradle to grave, digital tracking tools have the potential to revolutionise recycling.
“That’s why we’re delighted to be working with Polytag to gather new insights into the real-world application of these tools and explore the data being retrieved from our recovery facilities.
“In the future, tools such as these have the potential to improve the visibility of material flows in the UK, provide greater insights into recycling behaviour, and help to inform strategic decision-making and recycling policy in the UK.”
Alice Rackley, CEO of Polytag: “As Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Simpler Recycling regulations come into effect, businesses face a pressing need for accurate, real-time data about the lifecycle of recycled packaging materials. Developing our collaboration with Biffa comes at the perfect moment for us, granting access to barcode-level packaging data within the UK's most populated city for the first time. Through our Ecotrace Programme, this will help our brand clients understand the complex recycling journey of packaging in London while allowing them to stay ahead of complicated legislative changes. Please get in touch to support our Ecotrace Programme, if your brand needs this insight – we would be delighted to welcome you onboard!”
Polytag utilises invisible UV tags on packaging to enable the precise tracking of packaging throughout the recycling process. Invisible to the human eye and seamlessly blending in with the packaging, the UV tags are captured by Polytag’s plastic detection units. Data on when, where, and how much packaging is recovered is available to brand clients in real-time through the Polytag dashboard.
Brands must stop guessing and start knowing if packaging is getting recycled in order to comply with legislation such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Here, brands need accurate third-party verified data to benchmark progress and report on these targets. This data brings traceability to packaging and product flows in the UK, with the aim of helping inform legislative benchmarks and support the growing transition towards a circular plastic economy.
To learn more about Polytag and the Ecotrace Programme, click here.