Circularise Plastics initiative is entering the next stage. The collaborative project for circularity in plastics founded by polyamide supplier DOMO, materials manufacturer Covestro and Circularise, a supply chain transparency start-up, has reached the first milestone. With the support from the founding members Circularise successfully developed the first version of the platform tailored to the plastics industry. The group is piloting the system this year and demonstrating it on the market in a production environment in early 2020. At CES 2020 (Las Vegas, January 7-10), Circularise (Holland Tech Square, Eureka Park, booth 51726) and Covestro (Smart Cities, Tech East, booth 313) will present the project to customers and open the consortium for new partners to join on the pathway towards transparency and circularity in plastics.
Currently, the solution enables manufacturers to create a digital version of their materials based on trusted (audit) documents. This enables them to prove the sustainability of their supply chain and create reliability and trust. “We are now seeing more companies ranging from material producers to OEMs and brands show interest in creating an open standard for the industry. More players see the value of implementing new technologies to become more transparent, they also realise that it can’t be done alone,” says Mesbah Sabur, Circularise founder.
The start-up has already followed up on their success by presenting the standard to BASF and Stanley Black & Decker in the context of their Circularity Challenge. Circularise ended up being the only software company out of nearly 100 competitors to become a finalist in the challenge.
“The value of having this standard developed by the industry, instead of just one or two companies is in avoiding a central powerful authority and giving equal rights to all participants,” says Thomas Nuyts, Director of Global Product Management at DOMO. Encouraging broad marketplace adoption, the Circularise Plastics is available to any organization that manufactures, processes, recycles or uses plastics.
Depending on the position of parties in the value chain, there are different benefits that they can expect. “For material suppliers and processors, as well as molders, Circularise Plastics’ participation means increased material value and trust in your production, by adding material passports to plastic resins, additives, colorants and any other materials produced. For OEMs and brand owners, it helps on the road to achieving sustainability targets and a strengthened brand position, by revealing a product’s origin and transparency on its environmental impact,” says Dr. Burkhard Zimmermann, Head of Strategy, Sustainability and Digital, Covestro Polycarbonates.
Industrial companies Covestro and DOMO Chemicals were key architects of the pilot’s final requirements, and will work to adopt the standard. Following completion of a pilot period with these companies, the system is available to the broader market. The objective is to create a strong consortium of companies to set an industry standard for transparency regarding e.g. recycled content and other sustainable practices.
At CES 2020 the new Blockchain Traceability Solution will be demonstrated at Covestro’s booth (313) in the Smart City exhibition and at Circularise's booth (51726) at the Eureka Part.
