Digital Identities for Reusable Packaging

Flexible electronics developer PragmatIC Semiconductor has announced its involvement in leading an Innovate UK, Smart Sustainability Plastic Packaging business project that will make reusable plastic packaging systems a reality at scale.

The project, named TRACE (Technology-enabled Reusable Assets for a Circular Economy), will use PragmatIC’s ultra-low-cost NFC technology to give reusable containers unique digital identities (UIDs) so that the packages can be efficiently and effectively returned and reused.

The UIDs will be used throughout the lifecycle of the packages: firstly, by all the actors in the supply chain to track each item and provide detailed data that will demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits; and secondly, by the consumer to access their deposits or rewards, thereby building enduring relationships with brands and retailers.

Reusable models present a significant opportunity to reduce waste and its impact on the environment, says PragmatIC. By taking a systematic view to reusable packaging, TRACE will develop new digital innovations across the complete cycle of recapture, sorting, cleaning and back-to-use of these assets, enabling new models for packaging-as-a-service.

‘As packaging is the dominant generator of plastic waste, we are continuously looking for ways in which we can use our technology to reduce that impact,’ said Scott White, CEO of PragmatIC. ‘TRACE brings together leading academic and industry expertise to prove that reuse at scale will deliver significant benefits to the planet. This is why leading global packaging companies are working with us to accelerate the path to intelligent packaging’.

Other academic and industry partners in the TRACE project include RECOUP, Topolytics, University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and Ken Mills Engineering.

TRACE is one of 13 R&D and five demonstrator projects that have secured £30 million in government funding from the Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging (SSPP) Challenge. The 18 projects cover the development of innovative concepts to improve plastic packaging sustainability and support greater recycling. They range from novel separation, sorting and decontamination technologies to RFID and AI technologies to trace reusable food-grade plastic packaging, and new recycling- friendly coatings and barrier materials.

Carbon neutral electronics PragmatIC has also announced the development of a second FlexLogIC fabrication line – the PragmatIC Park in Durham, UK – for the production of billions its ultra-low-cost flexible integrated circuits (FlexICs) each year.

According to the company, this is its largest investment to date. Building on the success of the company’s existing fab, FlexLogIC-002 will ramp production capacity to billions of circuits, and the PragmatIC Park will provide space for at least four additional FlexLogIC fabs to support continued growth in demand for electronics in everyday objects.

The PragmatIC Park will transform the present brownfield industrial site, incorporating features that will deliver significant progress towards the company’s goal of carbon-neutral electronics, added the company.