Innovation, Trend

Digital Traceability for Optimized Plastic Circular Economies

03/10/2026 | 4 min read

At the Future Packaging Day, Greiner Packaging invited Alice Rackley, CEO of Polytag, a world leading provider of tag and trace solutions, to give an insight into how digital traceability can optimize plastic circular economies. Her message was clear: the packaging industry is undergoing a transformation, and data is the key to making it work.

Why Digital Traceability Matters

Brands today face growing pressure to meet sustainability targets and comply with regulations. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes demand proof of recyclability and accurate reporting. Yet, once packaging enters the waste stream, most brands lack sufficient tracking. This data gap makes it hard to demonstrate compliance or measure progress toward circular economy goals.

Rackley highlighted that closing this gap is essential. Digital traceability provides the insights needed to answer key questions:

Where does your packaging end up?
How much of it is successfully recycled?
Can you verify claims and avoid greenwashing?

Interview with Alice Rackley

In this interview, Alice Rackley explains how digital traceability makes packaging more transparent, smarter, and more sustainable.

Watch the Video

How QR Codes and invisible UV Tags make your packaging more detectable

Rackley presented two technologies that empower brands to track packaging throughout its lifecycle and can be integrated into existing packaging processes without major disruption:

UV tags enable precise detection and sorting of plastics by type and grade. Applied during the printing process, just one extra ink layer would be needed, without altering the visible design. To maximize detection in recycling streams and ensure GS1 compliance (global standards for product identification and data exchange), the tag is repeated across the full label. Rackley confirmed that these UV tags have already been tested with a leading global recycler. The outcome: sorters can distinguish food-grade from non-food-grade plastics and even identify different material generations. This delivers verifiable recycling data and reduces the risk of greenwashing.

QR codes go beyond traditional barcodes by acting as an “endless digital label.” Rackley presented QR-Codes which provide sustainability information that can be updated at any time and displayed in multiple languages. For example, a consumer scanning a product in Spain will see content in Spanish, and when taking the same product to another country, the same QR code will automatically display the information in the respective local language. QR codes also deliver engagement analytics, giving brands valuable insights into consumer behavior.

Both approaches are designed for simplicity. UV tags require only a minor adjustment in printing, while QR codes can be generated and managed through a digital dashboard.

Building Trust and Compliance

Rackley emphasized that these technologies are not just technical upgrades, they are strategic tools for meeting Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements and demonstrating ESG leadership. Governments are even considering incentives for brands that invest in recyclability and traceability. By adopting UV tags and QR codes, companies can prove their commitment and avoid accusations of greenwashing.
In conclusion, Rackley summarized: digital traceability is more than compliance, it’s a way to future-proof your brand and create measurable impact.

“If we know what happens to packaging after use, we can design better systems and make sustainability measurable.”

Alice Rackley, CEO of Polytag

Interview with Alice Rackley

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