CO-OP is launching a trial to uncover the number of its own-brand plastic bottles being recycled.
The move comes as the retailer looks to boost its understanding of true recycling figures to help benchmark future rates for the industry.
Working in partnership with Polytag, data on recycling will be collected to showcase the exact number of Co-op bottles that are being recycled at recycling centres.
As part of this trial, Co-op will add a UV invisible code to the label of one of its best-selling own-brand spring water lines. When the bottle reaches a specific recycling centre in North Wales, the UV code will be identified by specialist equipment fitted to the sorting machines and the data collected will be uploaded in real-time to a cloud.
Matt Hood, MD of Co-op Food, said, “We all have our part to play when it comes to recycling and, as a retailer, we want to gain a greater understanding on a product’s journey in the recycling chain to help paint a clearer picture and support future traceability. This new trial will enable Co-op to gather valuable insight to provide guidance and measurement for future initiatives to encourage more people to recycle and it will also support the industry with true benchmarks for recycling rates in the UK for the very first time.”
Alice Rackley, CEO of Polytag, added, “We’ve optimised the UV tag reading technology so that brands can apply a simple UV tag layer to their labels and get never-before-seen data about how many of their single-use items of plastic packaging are being handled in a material recovery facility. We’re absolutely delighted that Co-op has agreed to work with Polytag to continue to develop and deliver technology that will enable us to all recycle more, together.”
Polytag is working in partnership with UK devolved governments and recycling facility operators to extend the roll out and installation of more UV tag readers across the country, in order to deliver more useful data to brands that want to know if single-use packaging is getting recycled, and measure success of initiatives designed to improve recycling rates over time.
Packaging Scotland spoke to Polytag’s CEO, Alice Rackley, earlier this year. To read the article, click here.
