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Digital Verification of Plastic Material Certificates

Sector: Secondary sector · Industry: Plastics industry · Organisation: Borealis und Circularise · Maturity level: Pilot

Borealis and Circularise are engaged in a DLT-based initiative to digitally identify and verify plastic materials along the supply chain. Product data is recorded on a distributed ledger with unique digital identities, making the origin and composition of materials tamper-proof and traceable.

Documentation status

• Project status: Pilot
• Evidence: Evidence high
• Editorial review: Ufuk Avci, 12 July 2026

Description

In the plastics industry, reliable traceability of materials along complex supply chains is a major challenge, as plastics undergo many processing stages during which origin information can be lost. Borealis, a leading plastics manufacturer, and Circularise, provider of a DLT-based traceability platform, are working together to assign digital identities to plastic materials so that their origin and composition can be verified at any time. This approach enables sustainability certificates such as ISCC PLUS to be stored digitally, thereby reducing greenwashing and meeting regulatory requirements more efficiently.

The collaboration between Borealis and Circularise takes place in the context of the growing importance of the circular economy in the plastics industry, where reliable proof of recycling content and material origin is increasingly becoming a business success factor. Circularise operates a SaaS platform based on distributed ledger technology that enables companies to create so-called digital product passports, in which material information is stored immutably and verifiably. Particularly relevant is that the platform allows selective data sharing: supply chain partners can share relevant sustainability attributes without disclosing complete and potentially sensitive business data. In similar projects, for example with Covestro and Domo Chemicals as well as with Porsche, Circularise has already demonstrated that a blockchain-based traceability process across seven value creation stages is practically feasible. The strategic engagement between Borealis and Circularise is publicly documented, with both parties identifying the digitalisation of circular models in the chemical sector as a key future topic.

Perspectives

B2B — organisations perspective

For companies along the plastics value chain, the digital verification of material certificates creates the foundation for trustworthy supplier relationships and significantly simplifies complex audit processes. Buyers can automatically check the sustainability attributes of purchased materials, reducing manual effort and facilitating compliance with regulatory requirements such as the EU Supply Chain Due Diligence Act.

Employees perspective

Employees in quality assurance and compliance benefit from the replacement of time-consuming manual checks of certificates and delivery documents with digitally verifiable evidence on the DLT platform. At the same time, working with the new platform requires building digital skills and rethinking existing processes.

Benefits

General

• Forgery-proof and immutable documentation of material origin and sustainability certificates along the entire supply chain
• Simplification and digitalisation of audit processes through automatically verifiable evidence
• Strengthening the credibility of sustainability claims towards customers and regulators
• Support for meeting certification requirements such as ISCC PLUS

B2B — organisations

• More efficient supplier verification and reduced manual effort in certificate validation
• Competitive advantage through credible, digitally verifiable sustainability evidence
• Better compliance with increasing regulatory transparency requirements in the circular economy

Employees

• Reduction of manual, error-prone documentation processes through digital automation
• Clearer data situation for well-founded decisions in compliance and quality assurance

Challenges

General

• The full effectiveness of the solution requires all relevant partners along the supply chain to use the platform and enter their data.
• Integration of the DLT platform into existing ERP and production systems is technically complex and resource-intensive.
• Data protection and confidentiality requirements must be carefully considered when sharing material information.

B2B — organisations

• Convincing and onboarding all supply chain partners requires considerable coordination effort.
• Lack of standardisation between different traceability platforms can limit interoperability.

Employees

• Employees need to develop new digital skills in handling DLT-based systems.

Technology foundation

The solution is based on a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), as provided by the Circularise platform for industrial supply chains. Circularise operates a SaaS platform for digital product passports and traceability, enabling actors along the value chain to securely exchange information about material origin, composition, and sustainability attributes without fully disclosing confidential detailed data. This technology is particularly well suited for the plastics industry because it enables tamper-proof evidence across multiple processing stages while also meeting requirements for data protection and trade secrets.

Implementation examples

Borealis and Circularise: DLT-supported traceability of plastic materials

In the plastics industry, credible documentation of material origin, recycling content, and sustainability properties across complex, multi-stage supply chains is an increasing challenge, as manual certificates can easily be forged or lost and regulatory transparency requirements are growing.

Borealis and Circularise cooperate in the field of digital, circular solutions for the plastics value chain, relying on Circularise’s DLT-based traceability platform to assign digital identities and verifiable proofs to plastic materials. The collaboration is publicly documented through joint discussion events, where both companies address the digitisation of circular models in the chemical sector as a strategic core topic.

Borealis, an internationally leading manufacturer of polyolefins and basic chemicals, and Circularise, provider of a SaaS platform for digital product passports and supply chain traceability, are working together on the digitisation of material proofs in the plastics industry. Circularise has demonstrated in comparable projects with partners such as Covestro, Domo Chemicals, and Porsche that a blockchain-based traceability process across multiple value creation stages is practically feasible, where raw materials are assigned digital identities and made traceable via a so-called blockchain path. Circularise’s platform enables the secure sharing of sustainability attributes and certification proofs without disclosing complete and potentially sensitive business data. Borealis emphasises in its circular economy strategy the importance of traceability across the entire value chain, including certifications such as ISCC PLUS for its recycling subsidiary Ecoplast. The strategic partnership of both companies in the area of “circular meets digital” is documented, though detailed technical project metrics are not publicly available.

The DLT platform addresses the challenge that origin and composition information of plastic materials must be reliably and tamper-proof documented across many processing stages without all participants having to disclose their complete business data.

Tags

Supply chain, Traceability, Circular economy, Digital product passport, Certification, Plastic, DLT

Sources

1. Circularise: Blockchain-basierte Traceability-Plattform für Kunststoff- und Chemiewertschöpfungsketten
2. Borealis Kreislaufwirtschaftsstrategie: Rückverfolgbarkeit und Kreislauflösungen
3. Circularise Pilotprojekt zur Rückverfolgbarkeit von Kunststoffabfällen mit Covestro und Domo Chemicals
4. Circularise und Porsche: Digitaler Faden für Kunststoffe in Fahrzeugen