Major companies and retailers join BASF’s reciChain pilot to improve circular economy and traceability of recycled plastics in Canada

• CSSA, Layfield, London Drugs, Merlin Plastics, NOVA Chemicals, Recycle BC, Return-It, Save on Foods and V.I.P. Soap become part of the stakeholder consortium that enables better sorting, traceability and transparency throughout the value chain
• For the pilot project in British Columbia, BASF is also partnering with Deloitte as a strategic advisor
• The technology by Security Matters (ASX:SMX) used in reciChain includes a marker embedded into both rigid and flexible plastic that allows users to access and verify information associated with the material

Mississauga, ON, Canada, August 5, 2020 – BASF, CSSA, Layfield, London Drugs, Merlin Plastics, NOVA Chemicals, Recycle BC, Return-It, Save on Foods and V.I.P. Soap have joined forces to respond to one of the most pressing environmental challenges – plastic waste. Supported by reciChain, these companies aim to strengthen the circular supply chain, extend the lifecycle of plastics, incentivize recycling, reduce waste and enhance resource efficiency in Canada.

reciChain combines the power of SMX’s blockchain solution with their physical marker that enables the secured sharing of transactional data while improving the sorting, tracing and monitoring of plastics throughout the value chain. Implementing these technologies, value chain actors would conceivably be able to generate tokens or ‘plastics credits’, which would in turn increase in value as plastics go through additional loops. These credits could then be used to incentivize producers to design for recyclability, thus enhancing circular economy.

For the pilot project in Vancouver, British Columbia, BASF is also partnering with Deloitte as a strategic advisor.

The reciChain plastic value chain actors, on their part, are offering in-kind contributions to enable the feasibility of the pilot such as plastic material, testing, and technical expertise.

“We are grateful to count on broad stakeholder representation throughout the whole lifecycle of plastics including polymerization and recycling. With their support, along with the disruptive technology from Security Matters, our pilot will allow us to move from concepts and policy dialogue to tangible solutions in making advances in plastic circularity possible in Canada,” said Marcelo Lu, President, BASF Canada.

reciChain’s innovative digital twin technology

The marker technology that allows the tracking of plastics materials across the value chain using innovative digital twin technology.

This track and trace technology used in reciChain marks plastic products with a unique “chemical barcode” and connects them to a digital twin. Both rigid and flexible plastic products will be used during the pilot to test the feasibility of the marker technology in the reverse logistics process. The pilot will allow users to access and verify information associated with the production of the material, supporting producers' recycled content targets and retailers' plastic waste diversion targets and further closing the plastic loop

The pilot will also include a parallel testing of BASF’s trinamiX Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Solution, a hand-held scanner that detects and documents the composition of plastic material.

The project is being validated in British Columbia’s local supply chain. BASF’s vision is to expand reciChain to a nation-wide solution in order to position Canada as a leading country in recycling and recovery of plastics.

To learn more about reciChain and potential partnership opportunities, visit www.basf.ca/reciChain.  

About BASF

BASF Canada, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, has over 1,200 employees at production facilities and offices located across Canada. BASF Canada is a subsidiary of BASF SE, and an affiliate of BASF Corporation. To find out more about BASF’s activities in Canada, visit www.basf.com/ca or follow us on Twitter www.twitter.com/basfcanada.

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. More than 117,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €59 billion in 2019. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at http://www.basf.com