Welsh tech firm helping Waitrose to monitor plastic recycling

Waitrose is partnering with Deeside-based recycling technology venture Polytag on a pioneering scheme to monitor plastic recycling.

The retailer has become the first high street supermarket to roll-out invisible recycling tags at scale, adding them to plastic packaging on the majority of its own-label fresh milk range. There are also plans to add the tags to additional major product ranges.

The supermarket’s £100,000 investment in detection units at two of the UK’s largest and most AI-advanced recycling facilities will enable Waitrose to capture data that not just proves the scale of recycling, but helps to inform future decision making about packaging design.

The units will detect the invisible tags when the packaging passes through them, and have capacity to detect tags from other schemes and retailers going forward, creating potential for cross-industry collaboration.

The move will also recognise the critical role customers play in responsible recycling. Waitrose customers have long demonstrated a commitment to sustainability, and with this new initiative, their recycling efforts can be verified.

The tags - which are invisible to the eye but look similar to QR codes when scanned, and are easily integrated into existing packaging artwork - will allow Waitrose to collect data at the brand barcode level, helping provide evidence to confirm if packaging is being recycled.

This data will also be used to help both Waitrose and the UK and Welsh governments understand how customers are managing plastic and recycling at the end of a product’s life, and how best to engage consumers with the process of recycling.

Denise Mathieson, head of packaging innovation and programme delivery at Waitrose said:

“We know that many Waitrose customers are committed to recycling, and with Polytag’s invisible tag solution, we can start monitoring the recycling of our packaging at scale using real-time data”, said “Improving recycling and protecting resources requires collaboration, and we will be discussing with the UK government how this data can be used to positively incentivise industry action.”

Alice Rackley, chief executive of Polytag, said “It’s been a pleasure working with the Waitrose team to begin the journey of tagging and tracing their branded packaging. Having barcode-level data is a fundamental starting point to benchmark and improve recycling performance over time - what gets measured gets managed.

"The ambitions that Waitrose has for the Polytag solution are super exciting, and the whole team at Polytag is feeling energised by Waitrose’s vision and commitment to have an intentional positive impact on UK recycling performance.