19 Jul 2022
SABIC launches blockchain pilot for digital traceability of certified circular TRUCIRCLE™ feedstock
- SABIC’s consortium blockchain pilot project is a collaboration with technology company Finboot, advanced recycling pioneer Plastic Energy, and packaging specialist Intraplás
- The project intends to create additional transparency and digital traceability for certified circular feedstock used in SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ solutions
SITTARD, THE NETHERLANDS, July 19, 2022 - SABIC, a global leader in the chemicals industry, has launched a pilot project with technology company Finboot, advanced recycling pioneer Plastic Energy, and packaging specialist Intraplás to investigate the possibilities of blockchain technology in supporting end-to-end digital traceability of circular feedstock in customer products.
Tracing the journey of feedstock through the complex petrochemical value chain is currently a difficult undertaking. To improve this process and support the delivery of its circular feedstock to customers – part of SABIC’s TRUCIRCLE™ portfolio and services –, SABIC has launched this pilot project to demonstrate the feasibility of using a blockchain-based, value-chain IT application. SABIC’s is the first project of its kind in the industry to trace the product from feedstock production to converter, going further than previous industry applications of blockchain in end-to-end tracing. The platform offers reduced costs, time and improved data integration for all value chain partners.
Another of the key benefits of blockchain technology in the delivery of more sustainable solutions lies in its ability to validate sustainability proof points and organizations’ ESG credentials. This is of significant benefit to all members of the value chain, including external parties, as it reduces the administrative efforts associated with the certification process of materials. It is also a more reliable process, due to the reduced risk of human error.
Waleed Al-Shalfan, Vice President Polymers Technology & Innovation at SABIC, said: “At SABIC, we have a deep commitment to innovation and technology that can help us to deliver more sustainable solutions to our customers. Our vision to create a circular economy for plastics requires a total transformation of the value chain, and pioneering partnerships with partners both upstream and downstream. Blockchain technology holds exciting potential for the provision of our TRUCIRCLE products to customers, and therefore for our commitment to supporting customers in their sustainability ambitions.”
Finboot’s MARCO software solution acts as middleware layer and will track the TACOIL produced by Plastic Energy from their recycling process, the delivery of this oil to SABIC for conversion into its TRUCIRCLE circular polymers, and finally the delivery of the polymers to Intraplás for conversion into their packaging solutions. The technology also ensures that all data gathered remains immutable while shared across suppliers, customers and regulators - providing transparency, auditability and accountability in a complex industrial ecosystem.
Juan Miguel Pérez Rosas, CEO of Finboot, commented: “We are excited to embark on this pilot as it will significantly contribute to the development and progression of a circular economy, while setting the example for best practice for the global manufacturing sector. SABIC is at the forefront of its industry, always looking to the future and investing in technology and innovation to accelerate its digital transformation that supports the circular economy.”
Marisa Alves, Chief Procurement Officer at Intraplás, added: As a global provider of packaging solutions, Intraplás has the clear ambition to make sustainable packaging broadly available to the market, without compromising the environment and food safety, something that boosted the participation on this important project with our supplier and long-term partner SABIC. The blockchain technology project will reinforce our objectives even more, as it will help us to improve performance, create additional transparency to the supply chain and promote digital traceability for our certified circular packaging. This is an Intraplás contribution, through more concretely sustainable solutions, to a real circular economy.”
Carlos Monreal, Founder and CEO of Plastic Energy commented, “As a company who has developed our own innovative technology, we at Plastic Energy are excited to explore the opportunities that new technologies like blockchain can offer. This pilot has the potential to make a big impact in the value-chain, providing a new level of traceability and transparency for recycled plastics, and demonstrating how advanced recycling can play a valuable role in the circular economy of plastics.”
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ABOUT SABIC
SABIC is a global diversified chemicals company, headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It manufactures on a global scale in the Americas, Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific, making distinctly different kinds of products: chemicals, commodity and high performance plastics, agri-nutrients and metals.
SABIC supports its customers by identifying and developing opportunities in key end-use applications such as construction, medical devices, packaging, agri-nutrients, electrical and electronics, transportation and clean energy.
SABIC recorded a net profit of SR 23 billion (US$ 6.15 billion) in 2021. Sales revenues for 2021 totaled SR 174 billion (US$ 46.6 billion). Total assets stood at SR 318 billion (US$ 84.9 billion) at the end of 2021. Production in 2021 stood at 58 million metric tons.
The company has more than 31,000 employees worldwide and operates in around 50 countries. Fostering innovation and a spirit of ingenuity, SABIC has 10,090 patents and pending applications, and has significant research resources with innovation hubs in five key geographies – USA, Europe, Middle East, South Asia and North Asia.
ABOUT FINBOOT
Finboot is a technology company that gives its world class customers a competitive edge through accelerating their digital transformation, realising value and building trust through blockchain.
Finboot has developed MARCO, a 'low-code' platform that simplifies digital transformation by enabling companies to develop and deploy digital solutions with minimum efforts and resources. This ‘low-code’ platform accelerates the 'time to value' - the time it takes to a deliver an application to market.
- MARCO brings together blockchain technologies in one place, connecting multiple ledgers simultaneously
- It also powers 'no-code' applications which helps businesses realise value
- It enables companies to incorporate blockchain within their value and supply chains, which increases traceability, transparency and compliance which, in turn, helps them meet sustainability and ESG requirements while also increasing operational efficiency
Finboot is headquartered in the UK with a base in Spain.
ABOUT PLASTIC ENERGY
Plastic Energy is a global leader in chemical recycling, offering a sustainable solution to help prevent plastic waste, transforming previously unrecyclable plastic waste into a valuable resource. Our patented and proven chemical recycling technology converts end-of-life plastic waste into an optimal feedstock (TACOIL) for making virgin-quality recycled plastics. Plastic Energy currently has two chemical recycling plants that are in constant operation in Spain and is one of the few companies worldwide that has sold TACOIL from the conversion of end-of-life plastic waste to replace fossil oils in the manufacturing of new plastics. We are leading our field in the transition to a low-carbon circular economy for plastics.
Learn more on our website, and follow us on Twitter and Linkedin.
ABOUT INTRAPLAS
Founded in 1968, led by businessman and Commander Alberto Machado Ferreira and located in the North of Portugal, Intraplás is dedicated to the production and promotion of packaging solutions, with solid knowledge in Extrusion, Thermoforming and Printing. Its products are sold in more than 30 countries worldwide. Intraplás assumes a strong commitment to Sustainability in general and the circularity of its products in particular, aiming to promote carbon neutrality in its value chain, and to increase the recyclability of plastic packaging, focusing on Eco Design and incorporation of recycled polymers.
More than producing packaging, Intraplás works to achieve excellence on a day-to-day basis, something that has allowed to grow together with the clients and suppliers.
With two units, one in Lordelo and another in Rebordões, Portugal, Intraplás has a Centre for Research, Development and Innovation continuously working to improve and develop new products and innovative technologies to obtain the best packaging solutions, always focusing on eco-design, sustainability and food safety.
Intraplás seeks to incorporate recycled material into their products, promoting circular economy and new alternative materials, their LabTec allows them to perform trials with different materials and their thermoforming and FFS lines allow them to simulate the industrial performance of their sheets and preformed packaging before going outdoors. With a multidisciplinary R&D team, Intraplás refine customer’s requirements and products specifications.
Sustainable, Convenient and Smart, Functional – these are Intraplás focus in developing packaging solutions.
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SABIC launches blockchain pilot for digital traceability of certified circular TRUCIRCLE™ feedstock, a consortium project with technology company Finboot, advanced recycling pioneer Plastic Energy and packaging specialist Intraplás.
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