Nominated in the Thinking Big category of this year’s Sustainability Awards, we asked finalist Polytag a few questions to find out more about its UV tag and detection system to trace and provide packaging recycling data.
You’re a finalist in the Sustainability Awards 2026. Congratulations! To start off, could you summarize your entry in less than 50 words?
The Polytag Ecotrace Programme uses invisible UV tags and detection infrastructure in recycling facilities to provide verified, real-time data on packaging recycling outcomes. By connecting brands, retailers and recyclers, Ecotrace is improving transparency, supporting EPR and helping create a more accountable circular economy.
Why do you think the judges were impressed with your entry? Tell us about what is innovative about your project and its impact on packaging sustainability.
Ecotrace addresses one of the biggest challenges in packaging sustainability: the lack of reliable data on what happens to packaging after it is disposed of. By embedding invisible UV tags into packaging and detecting them at Material Recovery Facilities, Ecotrace provides verified recycling data at an unprecedented level of accuracy and granularity.
What makes the initiative particularly innovative is that it combines packaging technology, recycling infrastructure and digital data into a single ecosystem. Rather than relying on estimates, brands can see where and when their packaging is being recovered, enabling better decisions around packaging design, recyclability and compliance.
The impact extends beyond individual brands. Ecotrace is helping to create the evidence base needed to support more effective EPR implementation, improve accountability throughout the recycling value chain and incentivize real-world recycling outcomes. By generating actionable data that has previously been unavailable, the programme is helping accelerate the transition to a more transparent and data-led circular economy.
Finally, can you tell us about the ongoing development of your project, such as how it has been received by the industry and what the next steps are?
Industry response to Ecotrace has been extremely positive, with brands, retailers, recyclers and technology partners collaborating to expand the programme and demonstrate the value of verified packaging data. Founding partners including retailers and recycling organisations have helped establish a growing network that proves large-scale deployment is both practical and commercially viable.
The next phase of development focuses on expanding the Ecotrace network, increasing coverage across recycling facilities, onboarding additional brands and retailers, and extending detection capabilities beyond PET to include materials such as HDPE, flexible plastics, aluminium and cartons.
The long-term ambition is to establish packaging traceability as a standard industry capability, enabling more informed decision-making, improved recycling performance and greater accountability across global packaging supply chains.
The winners of this year’s Sustainability Awards are due to be announced on the 11th November at the Sustainable Packaging Summit, taking place from the 10th-12th November in Utrecht, Netherlands. The Summit mobilizes leaders of the FMCG value chain, policymakers, NGOs, recyclers and investors to collaborate, remove barriers and identify opportunities on the road to sustainable transformation.
To learn more or register, visit: https://www.packagingsummit.earth
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