Through its partnership with Polytag, Ocado Retail is applying UV tags to its own-label milk bottles, tracking them and collecting data throughout the recycling process.
The UV watermarks are not visible to consumers, but are automatically detected by Plastic Detection Units (PDUs) at Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) in the UK and Northern Ireland. This results in real-time, verified data being shared to the Polytag dashboard.
Through this information, Ocado expects to gain further insight into the time, location, and quantity at which its packaging is recycled. Understanding the type and location of products recycled is also set to help with the implementation of recycling strategies and compliance with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligations.
Apparently, this level of visibility ‘has never before been available at this scale’ – Polytag claims that its MRF facilities can now monitor almost 50% of the UK’s household recycling stream – and the data is hoped to contribute to the UK’s goal of achieving a 65% recycling rate by 2035.
Ocado is a founding member of Polytag’s Ecotrace Programme, which seeks to identify and capture data on single-use plastic packaging throughout the recycling stream. Polytag encourages more retailers and brands to join the initiative and track their packaging waste in pursuit of full circularity.
“This is the beginning of an industry-wide shift towards a more transparent recycling system,” said Alice Rackley, CEO of Polytag. “Retailers and brands can no longer afford to be in the dark about what happens to their packaging.
“Ocado Retail’s scale and pace in rolling out this technology has established a template for the whole industry, and proves what’s possible, and necessary, as we enter a new era of accountability for FMCG brands.
“The data now exists. The infrastructure is in place. Ocado Retail is showing the industry how to use it.”
Laura Fernandez, senior sustainability manager at Ocado Retail, added: “Ocado Retail is constantly looking for data-driven approaches to reduce environmental impact, and we’re proud to be the first online retailer to introduce Polytag’s UV-watermark technology on our own brand range.
“The technology allows us to truly understand the full lifecycle of our packaging, and make meaningful decisions based on that data. Being able to track our products through the recycling system is a significant milestone as we pave the way toward more sustainable practices.”
A previous collaboration saw Ocado apply Polytag QR codes to over 100 of its own-label products to provide sustainability information and instructions; this includes walking consumers through the refill and return processes for its reusable packaging.
In a similar initiative, M&S has implemented Polytag’s invisible UV tags into its four-pint milk bottles, aspiring to track sustainability targets, improve the accuracy of its sustainability claims, and bolster its regulatory compliance.
Waitrose also became a new member of the Ecotrace Programme, which is hoped to improve the efficiency and accuracy of its recycling processes while clarifying the amount of its post-consumer packaging that gets recycled.
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