Waitrose becomes first high street supermarket to track plastic recycling at scale
Waitrose becomes first high street supermarket to track plastic recycling at scale
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Waitrose has become the first major UK supermarket to introduce invisible recycling tags at scale, launching the technology across most of its own-label fresh milk range as part of a pioneering partnership with recycling tech firm Polytag.
The retailer has invested £100,000 in detection units at two of the UK’s largest and most advanced AI-enabled recycling facilities.
The units can scan packaging for invisible tags, similar to QR codes when digitally viewed but not visible to the human eye, allowing Waitrose to monitor exactly how much of its plastic is being recycled.
Waitrose says the move will generate real-time, brand-level data on recycling performance, offering new insight into customer behaviour and informing future packaging design.
The detection units have also been built to identify tags from other retailers, creating potential for wider industry adoption and collaboration.
The supermarket plans to expand the technology to additional product ranges in the coming months, positioning the new system as a scalable way to track plastic recycling across the UK.
By gathering barcode-level data, Waitrose aims to verify whether its packaging is being recycled once it leaves customers’ homes.
Denise Mathieson, Head of Packaging Innovation and Programme Delivery at Waitrose, said: “We know that many Waitrose customers are committed to recycling, and with Polytag’s invisible tag solution, we can start monitoring the recycling of our packaging at scale using real-time data.
“Improving recycling and protecting resources requires collaboration, and we will be discussing with the UK government how this data can be used to positively incentivise industry action.”
Polytag CEO Alice Rackley said: “It’s been a pleasure working with the Waitrose team to begin the journey of tagging and tracing their branded packaging.
“Having barcode-level data is a fundamental starting point to benchmark and improve recycling performance over time – what gets measured gets managed.
“The ambitions that Waitrose has for the Polytag solution are super exciting, and the whole team at Polytag is feeling energised by Waitrose’s vision and commitment to have an intentional positive impact on UK recycling performance.”
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