BASF Collaborates with Australian Security Matters to Accelerate Plastic Circular Economy

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoonju Hwang] Global chemical company BASF has signed a joint development agreement with Security Matters, Ltd to develop solutions that facilitate the tracking of plastics and enhance circularity. Security Matters is an Australian digital circular economy solutions company that supports the circular economy by digitizing objects through blockchain technology.

Plastics, when their unique properties are properly utilized, can contribute to a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. However, realizing such a circular economy requires increased collection and reuse of waste plastics. Recently, chemical recycling technologies that break down waste plastics to extract raw materials for production have advanced significantly, but mechanical recycling technologies involving shredding, washing, drying, and heating are still more widely used.

Currently recycled plastics suffer from degraded mechanical properties and quality compared to the original plastics due to polymer degradation or impurities. Additionally, the number of processing facilities is limited due to complexity and cost.

BASF and Security Matters aim to provide solutions to these challenges through research and development capabilities and technological cooperation. Security Matters will contribute by providing technology that supports circular recycled materials and digital tracking, validating sustainability theories and improving waste plastic separation. BASF contributes to the partnership with extensive experience in plastic additives, institutional understanding, and knowledge of the plastic value chain.

Security Matters plans to enable digital twin implementation by providing a tracking solution that physically marks objects using immutable special chemical barcodes. These barcodes can withstand manufacturing and recycling processes without altering the appearance or performance of the objects, and their proprietary technology can collect various information to facilitate resource circulation.

Achim Sties, President of BASF’s European Performance Chemicals division, stated, "To address global issues, it is essential to consider the entire product lifecycle when using plastics. Moving toward a circular economy approach that realizes the circulation of end-of-life resources and supports the most efficient plastic collection and recycling methods is crucial." He added, "We are jointly developing groundbreaking technology that can collect information on how polymers and plastics move throughout the entire production and distribution process."

Hagai Alon, founder and CEO of Security Matters, said, "We are honored to collaborate with BASF, a global leader in plastic additives. This partnership represents the first step in demonstrating how our technology can be applied to the circular economy."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.