The reciChain™ program expands to Alberta with the goal to position the province as a leader in plastics circularity

• Relevant players from the plastics value chain, including BASF, Cascades, Layfield, London Drugs, NOVA Chemicals, Orion Plastics, [Re] Waste and Waste & Recycling Services from the cities of Calgary and Edmonton, have joined forces in the next phase of the reciChain program
• Alberta Innovates will support the development of this blockchain-enabled ecosystem as part of their efforts to advance clean technologies

CALGARY, ALBERTA, June 1, 2022 – BASF, Cascades, Layfield, London Drugs, NOVA Chemicals, Orion Plastics, [Re] Waste and Waste & Recycling Services from Calgary and Edmonton are joining forces to expand the reciChain program to Alberta to accelerate the province’s transition to a circular economy.

The reciChain^TM  program is a technology-enabled ecosystem that brings together all the plastic value chain players to enable circularity, tracking and sorting of recycled plastic.

“Plastics have proven benefits for multiple applications such as food preservation, automotive light-weighting, medical devices, and building insulation, among many others. Plastic waste, however, poses a major global challenge,” said Apala Mukherjee, President, BASF Canada. “To solve this environmental issue, we need to build a more circular economy for plastics through innovation and collaboration across the value chain. This is exactly what reciChain brings to the industry”.

The reciChain concept was created by BASF in Sao Paolo, Brazil and tested with an initial proof-of-concept pilot in 2020 in British Columbia, Canada, which proved circularity by tracking the products lifecycle from pellet to pellet. Now, with the support of Alberta Innovates, the provincial government corporation responsible for promoting innovation in the province, the project is expanding to Alberta to conduct the next phase of the project, which will see the solution through to a semi-commercial phase.

“Creating a cleaner world starts at the local level, in communities all around the country and right here in Alberta. Innovative programs like reciChain are creating meaningful changes in plastic recycling. Alberta Innovates is pleased to support this partnership and looks forward to the results that flow from this program” said Laura Kilcrease, CEO, Alberta Innovates.

A successful implementation of the reciChain program will support Alberta in achieving results such as: reducing overall contamination levels and increased recyclability; increasing demand for innovative solutions for plastics recyclability; supporting auditability of recycled content supporting Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) programs; shifting consumer perspectives on the use of virgin plastics and supporting further brand loyalty for provincial businesses; among other impacts.

The reciChain program’s underlining technology components

To extend the lifecycle of plastics, the reciChain program comprises two technology components:

• A physical tracer that identifies and follows key plastic features throughout the value chain and enables the connection of plastic to a digital twin
• A blockchain marketplace developed by the California-based, Web3 start-up Real Items, which creates and translates the digital twin, providing a secure, auditable transfer-of-ownership and assigning incentives to incent participation and offset costs

Once the reciChain program is validated in Alberta’s plastics value chain, BASF intends to continue expanding it to tackle the plastic waste challenge, both at national and global levels.

About BASF

BASF Canada, headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario, is a subsidiary of BASF SE and an affiliate of BASF Corporation. BASF Canada has more than 1,100 employees in Canada and had sales of $2.5 billion in 2021. For more information about BASF Canada’s operations, visit www.basf.com/ca.

At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Around 111,000 employees in the BASF Group contribute to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio comprises six segments: Chemicals, Materials, Industrial Solutions, Surface Technologies, Nutrition & Care and Agricultural Solutions. BASF generated sales of €78.6 billion in 2021. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchange in Frankfurt (BAS) and as American Depositary Receipts (BASFY) in the U.S. Further information at www.basf.com.

reciChain is a trademark of BASF, used with permission by BASF Canada Inc. (c) 2022 BASF Canada Inc.  All rights reserved.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners and use of any such trademark does not imply any affiliation with or endorsement by its owner.