Label printer Interket and traceability specialist Polytag launched a UV-readable label following a 12-month development and testing programme aimed at helping brands and retailers address Extended Producer Responsibility requirements. The UV-readable barcode is embedded directly into the label artwork, allowing Materials Recovery Facilities equipped with Polytag’s Ecotrace system to identify packaging and route it into the correct recycling stream. Data on where, when, and how packaging is processed can then be shared with retailers to demonstrate compliance.

The technology has already been validated in closed-loop pilot projects and is now being made available for wider adoption across the UK retail and brand landscape. According to Interket managing director Tim Pattison, close technical collaboration was essential to delivering a solution that works reliably at scale. He said that joint development with Polytag enabled the teams to align technical objectives, share expertise and overcome the challenges of producing a UV label capable of performing consistently in real-world recycling environments. Trials with retailers including Ocado and Marks and Spencer have helped demonstrate the system’s effectiveness.

Interket and Polytag have worked together since 2023, with development accelerating over the past year as confidence grew in the robustness and scalability of the solution across different substrates and production settings. Waste management company Biffa also played a role in early pilots, deploying a reader at its Teesside facility to identify packaging materials and support correct processing. Polytag founder and CEO Alice Rackley said the collaboration delivers a new level of clarity and accountability for brands. With 15 Ecotrace systems now operating at facilities handling more than half of the UK’s waste streams, she said the UV label solution enables greater transparency and marks an important step toward scalable EPR compliance.