Trace recycled plastics across the value chain
Sector: Tertiary sector · Industry: Waste management and recycling · Organisation: BASF, Kryha, Recicleiros · Maturity level: Pilot
Chemical company BASF launched the blockchain pilot project reciChain in partnership with Kryha and the Brazilian recycling NGO Recicleiros. The platform aims to ensure transparent and reliable traceability of plastics throughout the entire recycling value chain. By capturing material flows on a shared ledger, the initiative supports improved sorting, recycling, and circular economy integration for plastic waste.
Documentation status
- Project status: Pilot — The reciChain project was designed by BASF in partnership with Kryha and Recicleiros and tested as a pilot programme, among other places, in Canada and Brazil.
- Evidence: Evidence medium
- Editorial review: pending
Description
The chemical company BASF, in collaboration with the technology company Kryha and the NGO Recicleiros, developed the reciChain platform to make material cycles for plastics transparent. The application uses blockchain technology to securely record every step from waste collection through recycling to reprocessing. This allows all involved companies to comprehensively verify the origin of secondary raw materials and the processing stages they have undergone.
The reciChain initiative was launched by BASF to address one of the central challenges of the circular economy: the lack of reliable data on the origin and quality of recycled plastic. Together with Kryha and Recicleiros, a platform was designed and practically tested in pilot trials in Brazil and Canada. Using decentralized data storage, sorting, cleaning and processing events are securely documented for all participants in the supply chain. This enables brand owners and recyclers to legally prove the actual recycled content in end products and simplify certification processes. The project demonstrates how digital infrastructures can effectively support industrial cooperation between chemical companies, waste disposal firms and civil society organisations.
Perspectives
B2B — organisations perspective
B2B partners receive verifiable evidence via the platform about the origin and composition of recycled material batches. This facilitates compliance with regulatory requirements for the circular economy and strengthens trust between raw material suppliers and processing manufacturers.
B2C — consumers perspective
End consumers indirectly benefit from products with credibly proven recycled content and a lower risk of greenwashing. Transparent value chains will enable consumers in future to make sustainable purchasing decisions based on valid evidence.
Employees perspective
Employees in recycling facilities record material inputs and quality data via standardised digital interfaces of the platform. The reduction of manual paper documentation simplifies daily handover processes and reduces sources of error in inventory documentation.
Benefits
General
- Enhanced transparency of material flows in the circular economy
- Forgery-proof proof of recycled content in end products
- Improved collaboration between waste disposal companies, processors and the chemical industry
B2B — organisations
- Facilitated compliance with regulatory proof obligations
- Increased trust between trading partners regarding material quality
B2C — consumers
- Reduced risk of misleading environmental and recycling claims
Employees
- Simplified documentation processes during material acceptance
- Reduced administrative effort through a unified data basis
Challenges
General
- High coordination requirements between actors with different levels of digitalisation
- Standardisation of material criteria along international supply chains
B2B — organisations
- Integration of existing ERP systems into the blockchain solution
Employees
- Need for training operational staff in sorting facilities
Technology foundation
The solution is based on a decentralized blockchain platform that securely records material transactions and processing stages between waste disposal companies, recyclers and manufacturers.
Implementation examples
reciChain pilot project for plastic traceability
Lack of transparency and inconsistent quality certifications in the recycling chain hinder the industrial use of secondary plastics and impede the circular economy.
BASF developed the reciChain platform together with Kryha and Recicleiros to track plastic waste and recyclates seamlessly along the supply chain. The system was tested in pilot trials to improve transparency and sorting processes in the circular economy.
As part of the reciChain project, BASF partnered with the software company Kryha and the Brazilian non-governmental organisation Recicleiros. The platform enables end-to-end traceability of plastic flows from collection to recycling and was also designed for pilot applications in Canada. The aim was to create a reliable ecosystem for brand owners, recyclers, and raw material producers that verifies the authenticity of recycled content.
Lack of trust in the purity and origin of recyclates as well as inefficient interfaces between waste managers and the processing industry.
Tags
Circular economy, Recycling, Traceability, Supply chain, Plastics