Polytag, Saica Flex, and Paragon shake hands on waste journey traceability partnership

A new sustainability partnership combines Polytag’s detection technology and expertise, Saica Flex’s packaging production, and Paragon Inks specialist UV inks.

This is the collaboration behind Waitrose’s recently launched UV tagged milk cartons.

Labels carry invisible UV tags, printed with Paragon’s inks products. Once they enter the recycling stream, Polytag’s detection systems scan the labels and capture detailed, item-level data. Using this data, recyclers can track in real-time which products enter recycling, measure recovery rates, and demonstrate compliance with regulations such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), facilitating the sharing of this information with brands.

The solution integrates into existing packaging and printing workflows. Saica Flex’s collaboration with Waitrose, combined with its experience in this specific packaging, enabled deployment without disrupting established supply chains.

Francisco Barrera, Sales & Marketing Director at Saica Flex, says: "We knew from the start that adoption would depend on keeping things simple. Brands need solutions that fit naturally into their operations and current production environments. This product works across the entire packaging lifecycle, from printing through recycling with minimal disruption. It gives brands meaningful insight, while remaining practical and viable even for high-volume products like milk cartons."

Alice Rackley, CEO at Polytag, says: "And because it’s built on GS1 global open standards, the UV tag solution is ready to scale across multiple sectors and applications, allowing brands and recyclers to participate fully in building a transparent circular economy."

Barbara Paterson, Technical Director at Paragon Inks, says: "Creating the UV inks was a technical challenge. They needed to remain detectable by Polytag readers across a wide range of colours, substrates, and packaging formats, even after packaging has been crushed or otherwise processed.”

“At the same time, the inks had to meet strict food-safety and environmental requirements. Two years of development, testing, and iterative validation went into delivering a solution that is reliable, safe, and fully compatible with existing waste management operations."

As mentioned at the top of this article, labels printed by Saica Flex with Paragon Ink’s products are now in use on Waitrose milk cartons and being detected by Polytag systems in recycling facilities.

"Seeing the labels generate real data in a live waste stream validates all the work that went into development," says Martin Fowler, Global Sales Director at Paragon Inks. "It proves the system works as intended, and this is just the beginning - the potential for other products and sectors is enormous."

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Green retail will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards will open for entries in April. They celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 15th October.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.