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 annual list, and TIME’s recognition focuses on its role in helping brands see what happens to packaging after it has been used.
At the centre of the programme is a tagging system that uses invisible UV marks activated on packaging. Polytag equipment detects those tags as packaging passes through recycling facilities, capturing barcode-level data. The system operates using global open standards to record which tagged packaging reaches these facilities, and where and when detection occurs.
How the tracing works
For packaging manufacturers, printers, converters and ink suppliers, Ecotrace is designed to fit existing production processes. Specialist fluorescent UV inks are used to add tags to packaging labels. The tags are invisible to the naked eye and can be incorporated without a fundamental change to established workflows.
The tags can carry more than a simple identifier. Polytag says encoded information can include a pack’s plastic melt flow temperature, its converter or its food-grade status. Depending on what is encoded, the data can provide insight at pack-variant or batch level and across defined periods.
Data for design and accountability
That pack-level record is intended to give brands and retailers a clearer view of post-use performance, informing choices about packaging design, material selection and recyclability. Polytag also argues that as Extended Producer Responsibility 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 programme is being used by Ocado and Waitrose. UV-tagged packaging from the retailers is generating data at enabled recycling facilities.
Industry reaction
Debbie Waldron-Hoines, consultant CEO at the Flexographic Industry Association, said the TIME inclusion shows the role innovation can play in addressing major packaging challenges. For printers and converters, she said, technologies that connect packaging with data about its fate after use could create opportunities to help brands assess performance and inform future design decisions. She described it as encouraging to see innovation that links the print and packaging sector with wider discussions about recycling and circularity.
Alice Rackley, chief executive of Polytag, said the recognition 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 to bridge the gap between how packaging is designed and what happens after use. Rackley added that this collaboration is key to turning better data into better decisions, helping brands design packaging with end-of-life in mind and supporting progress towards a circular economy.