Security Matters proves commercial readiness for plastics traceability on an industrial scale

Security Matters (ASX: SMX) is at the forefront of digitising physical objects on the blockchain to provide traceability for recyclable materials.

Closing the loop

SMX successfully completed its commercial readiness in an industrial facility for tracked recycled plastics.

To prove its commercial readiness SMX used post-consumer recycled content (PCR), which refers to material made from everyday recyclables such as aluminium, paper, and plastic bottles.

Tracked PCR pellets were provided to an industrial bottle manufacturer to produce various final products.

This then provided a proof of concept that enabled the plastic manufacturer to accurately identify and audit the type of plastic, the number of times it's been recycled, and the amount of recycled content contained within the finished product.

SMX Founder and CEO Haggai Alon said that commercial readiness supports companies seeking to “join the global sustainability effort and to comply with the new plastic regulations as they endeavour to meet their business goals.”

Alon believes the patented blockchain technology provides “an economical solution to identify and report transparently on their recycled content used in plastic packaging, but also remove their dependency on human and paper auditing.”

The backdrop

The United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) raised the growing need to accurately identify and increase the use of recycled content.

The UK will be one of the first nations to implement a new tax on plastic packaging for products that do not contain at least 30% recycled plastic, from 1 April 2022.

A rate of tax will be £200 per metric tonne of plastic packaging will be applied to organisations that fail to comply.

SMX believes their technology provides an end-to-end solution for all types of materials across the supply chain.