ASX-listed company Security Matters (SMX) has successfully completed a trial for marking recycled plastics in a fully commercial industrial facility, which studied the impact of different feeding methods on final post-consumer recycled content (PCR).
The successful trial, which comes as the UK and other countries have or will soon implement their recycled Plastic Packaging Tax Legislations, provides plastic manufacturers and importing companies with a proof of concept, enabling them to accurately identify and audit, via an automated transparent reporting system, the polymer type, number of loops and the amount of recycled content, despite the size and colour of the plastic.
As a result, these companies will be well positioned to promote their operations as being sustainable and environmentally friendly. Combined with SMX’s ability to digitally certify the materials, clients will have the ability to avoid human/manual-paper auditing and use technology/automated auditing, thus reducing the potential for human errors and providing increased cost savings.
The compounding master batch and extrusion processes of these trials were performed on a pilot scale in a fully commercial and industrial facility. Tracked PCR pellets were sent to a bottle manufacturer to produce different bottle configurations to validate the accuracy and precision of PCR in the bottles.
The SMX team successfully demonstrated the ability to manage the process remotely, ensuring the viability of industrial scale adoption. The marked PCR and bottles were scanned using an SMX handheld portable reader. All readings were digitally recorded on a digital platform for traceability. The methodology utilised approximately 50 different bottles, produced with different inclusion levels, layer configurations and pigment choices, which were produced in the three loops:
Following these trials, it was found that:
• In all cases the quantification of the PCR was successful
• The layers configuration didn’t affect the accuracy of the PCR reading
• Addition of pigments didn’t affect detectability
• Regrinding material had no effect on detectability
• No sensitivity to thickness variation
“SMX is extremely proud of the successful outcome of these trials which will enable companies to join the global sustainability effort and to comply with the new plastic regulations as they endeavour to meet their business goals,” said SMX Founder and CEO, Haggai Alon. “Our revolutionary and innovative technology will provide companies with not only 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 ability to recycle and reuse plastics efficiently and cost effectively, ensures a more sustainable future for the planet.”
Since COP26, companies have seen the need to accurately identify and increase the use of recycled content within all their products. SMX says it has the ability and solution to track, trace, certify and authenticate all gas, liquid, and solid products across a supply chain from raw material, through production, to product and waste and recycle and reuse.
This system follows SMX’s ongoing work and developments in plastics, including but not limited to, joining NextCycle Michigan, the recent release of the SMX Generation 2.0 online unit and being awarded the Frost and Sullivan 2021 Global Waste Management & Recycling Digitalisation Technology Innovation Leadership Award, and the successful implementation of SMX’s technology into BASF’s ReciChain project in North America in 2020.
