Ocado Retail Partners with Polytag to Improve Packaging Recycling in the UK

Ocado Retail Boosts Packaging Traceability Technology in the UK

Image Credits: Ocado Retail

Ocado Retail, a leading online supermarket, has announced a partnership with Polytag, a UK-based RecTech company, to scale up its packaging technology in the United Kingdom. The partnership will implement the use of UV tags on products like milk.

Moreover, the tags will allow for real-time insights through barcode levels. The recycling of patterns is expected to lead to an improvement in adoption.

The CEO of Polytag, Alice Rackley, said,

“This is the beginning of an industry-wide shift towards a more transparent recycling system. 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 [fast-moving consumer goods] brands. The data now exists. The infrastructure is in place. Ocado Retail is showing the industry how to use it.”

Ocado is a founding partner of Polytag’s Ecotrace programme, which is dedicated to tracking packaging waste at the domestic level. Ocado Retail has announced the implementation of Polytag QR Codes on more than 100 of their own-label products.

The Senior Sustainability Manager at Ocado Retail, Laura Fernandez, also mentioned that the company is looking to focus on data-driven approaches that help in reducing the environmental impact.

The manager also mentioned that they are the first online retailer to introduce Polytag’s UV-watermark technology on their own.

The codes mention the instructions for the consumers for recycling and sustainability. Polytag has equipped various facilities across Northern Ireland and the UK for plastic detection. They are now monitoring around half of the UK’s recycling system in households.