TECHNOLOGY | ANTI-COUNTERFEITING
facing legal challenges. Greater transparency of supply chains can be
one of the most effective anti-counterfeiting measures. “Access to reliable data, such as material composition, product origin and environmental impacts, for example, can enable brands, OEMs and suppliers to improve reporting, reduce supply chain costs, strengthen their brands and avoid counterfeits,” says Ramkumar. “However, many actors in the plastics value chain are hesitant to share information and data because of concerns around exposing sensitive and proprietary material composition information that could affect their competitive advantage.” Circularise argues that a distributed and decen-
Circularise aims to combine anti-counterfeiting technologies such as labels, QR codes and chemical tracers with blockchain technology to provide a comprehensive anti-counterfeiting and traceability solution
er technology of blockchain, companies can track and trace all the transactions that take place across the supply chain,” he says. This hyperledger enables the creation of a complete ownership and authentication history, allowing companies to detect counterfeits at an early stage and identify their origin, according to Circular- ise. Moreover, the decentralised nature of the technology removes the need for trust among the parties involved (there are no intermediaries involved in managing and storing the data and all transactions are validated by all network participants). Ramkumar adds that many industries can benefit
from anti-counterfeiting and traceability measures for plastics compounds. For example, the automo- tive industry is recognised as a key market for counterfeit products. He says the US Federal Trade Commission has valued the counterfeit auto-part market at roughly US$12m per year. In 2020, he says Daimler identified nearly 1.7m counterfeit parts, three times the amount identified in 2019. The most widely counterfeited products are
clothing, and anti-counterfeiting and traceability solutions can have significant impact in this industry. In addition to the negative consequences of fake products that try to imitate brands, estimat- ed to cost companies some US$30bn. There are also issues around greenwashing and verifying claims made by companies about the products, such as if they are made from sustainable or recycled synthetic fibres. Ramkumar cites a recent high profile case involving H&M that highlighted how a lack of transparency and traceability about the sustainability of products could see companies
62 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2022
tralised public blockchain solution in combination with its Smart Questioning technology can provide an answer to this transparency challenge. “This technology allows safeguarding of the identity, business relations, production processes, and confidential information across all parties within the value chain. Through our Smart Questioning technology, only essential and useful insights will be shared between parties, and, if necessary, regula- tors. Since it utilises a public blockchain, the data cannot be tampered with and can be confidently trusted by all parties,” Ramkumar says. “We are continuing to explore how various anti-counterfeiting technologies like labels, QR codes and chemical tracers can be combined with our blockchain traceability technology to provide a comprehensive anti-counterfeiting and traceability solution for the plastics industry,” he says. “With chemical tracers, we are identifying how spectros- copy data can be added as a data point on our system and how scanning hardware can directly interface with our solution to read plastic pellets and compounds in order to verify its authenticity.” Circularise says it is collaborating with compa-
nies that develop tracer technologies to test their application in the plastics industry. For example, it says it has worked with a sustainable textile entrepreneur and start-up based in Amsterdam, which applies tracer particles and blockchain to guarantee the recycled content of polyester and cotton fibres and fabrics. “Since the chemical tracer technologies are still in their nascent stage, we are also exploring how we can collaborate with auditors and certification bodies within our platform,” says Ramkumar. “We are developing solutions to enable these parties to conduct independent, third-party audits more easily and to reduce the administrative burden to gather all the relevant data and information. We have recently launched the MassBalancer tool to
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IMAGE: CIRCULARISE
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