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In 2022, a report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development showed that less than 10 per cent of global plastic waste was recycled. Other research, published in Nature, showed that of the 400 million tonnes (440 million US tons) of plastic produced that year, fewer than 38 million came from recycled sources.
In China, where about one-third of the world’s plastic is produced, the materials science company Dow is testing its new Track and Trace Platform in collaboration with the Chinese recycling company Lovere and motor vehicle-care brand Delian.
The pilot scheme aims to provide a verifiable record of the movement of plastic waste, from the moment it is discarded to when it is reprocessed into new packaging.
Imagine an empty laundry detergent bottle in Shanghai, dropped into one of Lovere’s smart self-service recycling machines that uses artificial intelligence (AI) image recognition to identify the material used in its manufacture.
Once the machine is full, the waste is collected and delivered to a sorting facility. The detergent bottle joins a batch of high-density polyethylene, which is compacted into bales and assigned a QR code. Previously, this was where the data trail ended.
“Previously, once the bale left Lovere’s warehouse, all traceability was lost,” says Kodak Xiao, senior business sustainability director at Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics in Asia-Pacific. “At Dow, we believe that data is extremely valuable, so we built a system to close the digital loop.”
The Track and Trace Platform makes it possible to keep following the journey of the recycled detergent bottle. At certified recycling facilities, the bale is shredded, washed again and formed into pellets. Dow then buys the pellets and converts them into Dow’s Revoloop post-consumer recycled resin (PCR), with a QR code that traces the journey of each 25kg (55 pound) batch.
Delian then uses the PCR-based materials to manufacture engine-oil bottles, which consumers can scan to see exactly where the plastic came from.
The platform’s innovation has already been recognised internationally, with the company receiving the 2025 Business Intelligence Group Sustainability Service of the Year Award for advancing transparency in recycling systems.
Chen Jingye, chief operating officer of Lovere, says offering such transparency is what ultimately motivates people and businesses to participate. When they understand where their waste goes and can see that it is made into something new, their confidence in the system deepens, she says.
“Ultimately, when consumers choose to purchase products containing recycled materials, they close the resource loop and reinforce systemic viability,” she says. “Several of our stores showcase circular economy products, like smartphone cases made from post-consumer recycled plastic. Despite a slightly higher price, customers who come in to recycle often ask about them.”
For Dow, the platform addresses a fundamental business problem. Without the ability to track what happens to packaging after use, brands cannot verify how much plastic is actually recycled, so consumers cannot see the impact of their actions.
As regulations on recycled content and packaging waste tighten across Asia, the World Economic Forum says digital traceability is now a key enabler of compliance, reducing audit and reporting costs.
Xiao says its Track and Trace Platform brings trust, transparency and participation into the system. “When people see how their waste becomes a new product, the emotional reward is much greater than the small financial incentive,” he says. “Visibility motivates participation.”
Ensuring plastics circularity helps protect the environment by keeping plastic waste within the materials ecosystem rather than losing it to landfill or leakage. Dow says that traceable plastic waste from known sources is also easier to reintegrate into new products, because it gives manufacturers greater confidence in the safety and quality of the source material, which can lower the need for using virgin plastic. There are also social benefits, especially when user incentives increase participation while rewarding recyclers.
Chen says Lovere’s system can play a role in encouraging more communities to recycle. By placing intelligent recycling machines in residential areas, the company aims to make recycling an easy, everyday habit – and one that rewards users with eco-reward cash for depositing materials. This user-centred approach has “driven consistently high engagement” across the cities where the programme operates, she says.
For its part in the circular economy, Dow is focused on ensuring that the material collected through systems like Lovere’s can be traced, verified and reused at scale. Dow plans to expand its Track and Trace Platform across more markets and material streams, while strengthening collaboration across the value chain and helping build a more transparent circular economy in Asia.
