How it works
Polytag UV
A grid of Data Matrix tags created using fluorescent ink can be easily applied to your packaging so it can be identified as it passes through recycling centres. Invisible to the naked eye but easily spotted by Polytag Detection Units using UV lights, these fluorescent watermarks send real-time recycling insights to your user-friendly Polytag dashboard whenever they’re detected. Harness this data to share packaging lifecycle intelligence with your supply chain partners, set meaningful internal ESG targets, or use as a benchmark for legislative reporting such as Extended Producer Responsibility and Digital Waste Tracking.
Use cases
Granular disposal data, made simple
The Polytag UV tag detection solution offers an effortless way to trace your packaging as it’s being recycled. Applied during the standard label manufacturing process as simply an extra colour on the printing press, these invisible tags leverage the same technology as our QR codes to give every one of your products a tag representing the product barcode (GTIN). Then, when these tags are captured by a Polytag Detection Unit in recycling centres, you’re provided with real-time data on barcode-level recycling rates, while Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) get the granular data they need to streamline their recycling processes and sortation strategies.
Barcode-level Traceability
Know exactly where and when each item of packaging is recycled, gathering the intelligence to help you achieve sustainability success.
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Life Cycle Analysis
Get granular with your recycling data, with a breakdown of your packaging materials nested in the Polytag platform. Introduce additional packaging identifiers to the Data Matrix to enhance data collection.
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Optical Sorting
Harness the power of UV technology to improve sortation at recycling centres.
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Supply Chain
Achieve end-to-end supply chain visibility with future-facing data matrices, powered by GS1 standards.
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GS1 Standards
Who is GS1?
GS1 sets global standards for product identification systems such as the barcode and the data matrix, ensuring interoperability and consistency across every link in the supply chain.
Full packaging lifecycle data
All Polytag UV watermarks are embedded with product GTINs. This means that, when scanned, your packaging reveals its product-level information, identifying the individual product as it’s recycled and feeding this data directly back to the brand.
GS1 Data Matrix
The data matrix has the capacity to hold additional information such as packaging variant or material identifiers, to collect even richer insights on packaging lifecycles.
GS1 partners
As an approved GS1 UK partner, Polytag ensures worldwide compliance. We collaborate with the GS1 Global Office and member organisations to keep our technology interoperable across all systems and territories.
Why Polytag UV?
Get ahead of the curve with product lifecycle data
Prepare for upcoming legislation
Move a step ahead of forthcoming legislation by unlocking the data that recycling centres need to optimise sortation and to bring transparency to the discussion on taxes and fees.
Digital Deposit Return Scheme
Polytag provides everything you need to spearhead the future of deposit returns. From our secure tag and trace technology to our user-friendly insights dashboard, we help you track products from production to kerbside.
Low-cost traceability
Polytag UV makes it easy to trace your packaging through recycling centres, with a printing approach that integrates seamlessly with existing printing processes across the industry.
Patent-protected IP
Polytag’s patent-protected Polytag Detection Unit has been co-developed with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre to slot straight into recycling centres. Easy to retrofit, small-footprint but with huge impact potential!
Case study
Co-op pioneers plastic traceability
Co-op’s groundbreaking partnership with Polytag helped deliver clarity on how much of the company’s packaging was actually being recycled at barcode-level.. Leveraging Polytag’s UV technology, the innovative project tracked the journey of Co-op’s plastic bottles as they passed through the recycling stream, generating valuable data to improve plastic recycling efficiency.
Objective
The project sought to improve Co-op’s understanding of the rates at which its two-litre spring water bottles are recycled. To do so, invisible fluorescent watermarks were added to Co-op's plastic bottles, and Polytag’s Dectection Units were installed at the Abergele and Teesside recycling facilities. With these foundations laid, Co-op would know the exact number of plastic containers that made it to recycling centres, with the user-friendly Polytag platform enabling analytics in real time.
Outcome
The successful trial empowered Co-op to move beyond rough estimations, equipping them with concrete data on plastic recycling rates to compare against sales data. With this newfound knowledge, Co-op is helping to pave the way for data-driven solutions to recycling inefficiencies in the UK. The collaboration with Polytag is another demonstration of Co-op's commitment to pushing the boundaries of sustainability and innovation in the recycling industry.
At Co-op we champion initiatives that enable a circular recycling economy for all packaging materials. The duality of the UV watermark and QR code on our water bottles will enable Co-op to gain a greater understanding on a product’s journey in the recycling chain and provide valuable insight to shape guidance and measurement for future initiatives to encourage more people to recycle.
Polytag use cases
Barcode level traceability
Sustainability communication
Life cycle analysis
Customer communication
Technical partnerships
We’re in the loop
Recycling centres
Several Polytag UV Watermark Readers are already installed in Material RecoveryFacilities (MRFs) across the UK, with a secure API connection sending detection data directly to the Polytag platform. Brands have access to the data on the products they own, while each MRF is provided an aggregated view of what’s being recycled in the user-friendly Polytag Recycling Centre Portal.
Compliance agencies
Polytag has developed secure API integrations to enable our UV detection data to flow seamlessly into the systems used by compliance agencies. As a result, brands and retailers can receive the most detailed picture possible of their packaging lifecycles – all intuitively presented, and all in one place.
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Circle in on every recycled product. Circle back to sustainability.
