Biffa and Polytag expand sustainable waste management

Biffa and Polytag are furthering their longstanding partnership as the pair extend Polytag’s network in the UK. The move will see more critical groundwork for real-time packaging traceability in London for household brands.

Polytag is currently making progress on its mission of installing 12 plastic detection units at MRFs across the UK. This milestone will help provide coverage to over 50% of the UK’s household recycling stream through the Ecotrace Programme.

Since the Programme was launched in July 2024, the Plastic Detection Unit at Biffa’s Biffa’s Edmonton MRF handles 250,000 tonnes of waste annually collected from household recycling collections in London and surrounding counties. At the facility, Polytag’s technology helps to understand and optimise the use of data captured in recycling, providing insights into recycling rates to its clients.

“With growing demand for improved visibility and traceability of packaging and products across the value chain, from cradle to grave, digital tracking tools have the potential to revolutionise recycling,” said Craig Konczak, Business Director, Biffa MRFs & PRFs. “That’s why we’re delighted to be working with Polytag to gather new insights into the real-world application of these tools and explore the data being retrieved from our recovery facilities. In the future, tools such as these have the potential to improve the visibility of material flows in the UK, provide greater insights into recycling behaviour, and help to inform strategic decision-making and recycling policy in the UK.”

Alice Rackley, CEO of Polytag, added, “As Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and Simpler Recycling regulations come into effect, businesses face a pressing need for accurate, real-time data about the lifecycle of recycled packaging materials. Developing our collaboration with Biffa comes at the perfect moment for us, granting access to barcode-level packaging data within the UK’s most populated city for the first time. Through our Ecotrace Programme, this will help our brand clients understand the complex recycling journey of packaging in London while allowing them to stay ahead of complicated legislative changes. Please get in touch to support our Ecotrace Programme, if your brand needs this insight – we would be delighted to welcome you onboard!”