Polytag’s Ecotrace Programme has been included in TIME’s Best Inventions of 2026, in the Reuse & Recycle category. The programme is one of 300 innovations on the list and is intended to give brands more visibility over what happens to their packaging after use.
The system works by activating invisible UV tags on packaging. Polytag equipment detects those tags when packaging passes through recycling facilities, capturing barcode-level data that shows which tagged packs reach those sites and where and when they are detected. The company says the tags can be added using specialist fluorescent UV inks and existing printing processes, without a fundamental change to established production workflows. The tags are invisible to the naked eye and can be incorporated into packaging labels.
Data beyond a recycling signal
According to Polytag, the tags can also carry additional information about a pack, including plastic melt flow temperature, the packaging converter or food-grade status. Depending on what is encoded, the system can provide insights at pack-variant or batch level and across defined time periods. That data is positioned as a way for brands and retailers to understand packaging performance after use and to inform decisions on packaging design, material selection and recyclability.
Polytag says the technology operates using global open standards. It also argues that, as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) increases accountability for packaging placed on the market, the data can help businesses build a stronger evidence base for packaging performance and recycling outcomes. The company’s claims concern the visibility and evidence the system can provide; the announcement does not report independent recycling-rate outcomes.
Industry and retail use
The Ecotrace Programme is being used by Ocado and Waitrose, with UV-tagged packaging generating data at enabled recycling facilities. For packaging manufacturers, printers, converters and ink suppliers, the approach offers a possible route to build traceability into packaging through specialist inks and existing print equipment.
Debbie Waldron-Hoines, consultant chief executive at the Flexographic Industry Association, said the recognition highlighted the role innovation can play in addressing packaging challenges. She added that technologies linking packaging to data about its fate after use could create opportunities for printers and converters to help brands assess packaging performance and inform future design decisions.
Alice Rackley, chief executive of Polytag, said the inclusion was an endorsement of work across the packaging value chain to make packaging lifecycles more visible. She said the programme brings together packaging producers, ink specialists, retailers and recycling operators, connecting expertise between packaging design and what happens after use. According to Rackley, that collaboration is intended to turn better data into better decisions and support progress towards a more circular economy.