How Traceability and Transparency Can Foster Sustainability in Chemical and Plastics Supply Chains

NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / July 27, 2023 / SAP

Foto: Accesswire

Feature by Gloria Figaroa

Many consumers and companies understand the need to recycle or recover the 91% of global plastic waste that is mismanaged, ends up in landfills, oceans, and rivers, or is incinerated. Likewise, new bio- and circular plastic components offer a path to making these vital materials more sustainable by saving fossil resources and greenhouse gas emissions.

Today, only 2% of single-use plastic products are produced from certified sustainable sources such as bio- and circular components. Bio-components are feedstock that comes from organic, bio-based origins, such as used cooking oil. Circular components are feedstock that is recycled from waste plastic, such as post-consumer recycled waste.

A viable and efficient way to use such sustainable feedstock is integrating it into existing, large-scale production systems to avoid the additional cost, energy, and carbon emissions of segregated production facilities. But, when bio- and circular feedstock is blended with conventional fossil feedstock, how can consumers, regulators, and supply chains have confidence in bio- and circular-attributed plastic product claims? And how can these claims be leveraged to encourage informed choices when industries and consumers purchase products that are certified sustainable?

Digital Tracking for Total Traceability and Transparency

The SAP Green Token solution is a mass balance management solution from SAP that leverages tokenization and blockchain for chain of custody to help create traceability and transparency. In September 2022, SAP Green Token became an official part of the SAP Sustainability portfolio.

In a successful pilot, a group of SAP customers - including SKGC, Korea; Elantas, Italy; Westlake Vinnolit, Germany; Berry Global, U.S.; and Unilever R&D, the Netherlands - reviewed the ability of SAP Green Token to enable traceability and transparency of bio- and circular waste inputs to bio- and circular-attributed products across the chemical and plastics supply chain.

SAP Green Token enables organizations to create tokens that serve as digital twins of the bio- and circular chemical feedstock material flows throughout the entire supply chain and capture the unique sustainability attributes linked to the bio- and circular feedstock origin. As a result, the solution allows organizations to verify their certified sustainable material usage in their processes. What's more, the green credentials encapsulated in the tokens can be passed from one business partner to another via blockchain as the material moves along the supply chain, helping to ensure that important environmental, social, and governance (ESG) attributes are preserved. Also, an auditable record can be documented to prove the product is sustainable in accordance with recognized product standards, such as ISCC PLUS and REDcert2, and hence better for the environment.