EuPC and Circularise Plastics collaborate to further develop the digital platform to monitor the rate of the plastics recycling activities in Europe

EuPC, the European Plastics Converters Association, partnered with the Circularise Plastics Group, currently composed of its members Covestro, Domo Chemicals and Circularise, to cooperate in the development of the tool to monitor the use of recycled plastics by converters in Europe.

In the context of the EU Plastics Strategy, the European Commission has launched a pledge to increase the use of recycled content to 10 million tons by 2025. To address this, Circularise Plastics Group launched an “Open Standard for Sustainability and Transparency” based on blockchain technology & Zero-knowledge Proofs. While EuPC set up a tool to collect the use of recyclates by converters, against their production.

The tool is called MORE, Monitoring Recyclates for Europe. MORE is meant to ensure that faithful and consistent collection, through a common approach, on the use of recyclates is achieved by converters that will feed the surveys contained in MORE. The volumes reported in MORE are steadily growing every month and new plastic converting companies will join the system in the years to come.

“With the development of the MORE platform, EuPC emphasised the importance of creating an efficient infrastructure for monitoring the flow of data about the use of recycled plastics. We are happy to support its development with our technology and are looking forward to this collaboration”, says Jordi de Vos, Circularise’s co-founder. 

The EuPC strategy aligns with the Circularise’s mission to enable transparency of material flows while safeguarding data privacy and confidentiality. As a part of the broader objective of this collaboration, Signatories specifically aim to facilitate the development of a digital platform to monitor the rate of plastics recycling activities in Europe and test how the “Open Standard for Sustainability and Transparency” can be applied for this. 

“With the rise of new technologies, such as blockchain, we look to incorporate them in our monitoring system to ensure that the MORE platform is future-proof. Circularise has the technology and vision that aligns with ours and we look forward to cooperating on the development of the recyclates monitoring system”, says EuPC Managing Director Alexandre Dangis.

The organisations behind this cooperation acknowledge that it is an important element of a broader scope to create a standard for the industry: a secure, open-source, shared data exchange system for the global value chains to enable traceability of materials throughout the lifecycle across all stakeholders and value-chains.

“Increased recycling starts with the correct monitoring and reporting practices. We believe that the Open Standard for Sustainability and Transparency can enable that and help the plastics industry transition towards a more circular economy”, says Thomas Nuyts, Director of Global Product Management at Domo Chemicals.

“The collaboration between Circularise Plastics group and EuPC has the potential to provide a remote yet detailed monitoring and audit opportunity for companies. The system could enable a more trustworthy and less expensive way to become and remain qualified, while providing the necessary speed and flexibility”, says Dr. Burkhard Zimmermann, Head of Resin, Digital Transformation & Sustainability, Covestro Polycarbonates.

EuPC, Circularise, Covestro and Domo Chemicals aim to bring together stakeholders that can contribute to the development of the MORE and Circularise platforms. In the context of this cooperation they aim to test a prototype with a list of target companies in the coming months.

EuPC and Circularise Plastics collaborate to monitor the plastics recycling activities in Europe. Photo courtesy: Domo Chemicals

EuPC and Circularise Plastics collaborate to monitor the plastics recycling activities in Europe. Photo courtesy: Domo Chemicals

About EuPC: Created in 1989 and based in Brussels, EuPC is the EU-level trade association of European plastics converters. With four divisions in Packaging, Building & Construction, Automotive & Transport and Technical Parts, EuPC represents the different markets of the plastic converting industry. EuPC's aim is to contribute to an open and fair-trading environment for plastics converters in Europe. The focus is on market development, regulation, issue management and trade. www.plasticsconverters.eu & www.moreplatform.eu

 About Circularise: Circularise founded in 2016 and based in The Netherlands helps plastic manufacturers, brands and OEMs to trace raw materials from source, into parts and ultimately to end products. The company uses blockchain and other emerging technologies to enable companies share data about their products while retaining privacy over sensitive information. www.circularise.com

 About DOMO Chemicals: DOMO Chemicals is a leading producer of high-quality engineering nylon materials for a diverse range of markets, including the automotive, food, medical, pharmaceutical, chemicals and electronics industries. The company offers a complete portfolio of integrated nylon 6 and 66 products, including intermediates, resins, engineering plastics, performance fibres, packaging film and distribution of petrochemical products. Headquartered in Germany, the family-owned company leverages advanced technology and consumer insights to deliver sustainable & innovative solutions. DOMO generated 2019 sales over EUR 900 million and employs in 2020 approximately 2200 employees worldwide. www.domochemicals.com

 About Covestro: With 2019 sales of EUR 12.4 billion, Covestro is among the world’s largest polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. The main segments served are the automotive, construction, wood processing and furniture, and electrical and electronics industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. Covestro has 30 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 17,200 people (calculated as full-time equivalents) at the end of 2019.

This press release is available for download from the Covestro press server at www.covestro.com Find more information at www.covestro.com Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/covestro.

Forward-looking statements

This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Circularise, Domo and Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. The companies assume no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.