Interoperable Materials Passport Infrastructure for UK Circular Economy (Materials 4.0 Focus)

Recipient organisation

HELIX8 LTD

Project reference

10188380

Funder

Innovate UK

Programme

National Materials Innovation Programme: Feasibility Studies

Award value

£66,325

Project dates

1 May 2026 – 31 Jan 2027

Imported sector

Advanced Manufacturing Lvl3

Postcode area

BT (BT40 2SF)

Project status

Live

Source data quality

Description present in snapshot

Official project description

Making Recycled Materials Traceable Across UK Supply Chains When plastic is recycled in the UK, valuable information about its composition and origin is often lost. A recycler may verify that incoming material is high-quality polyethylene, but that verification data stays locked in their system. The manufacturer who buys the recycled pellets must test again. The brand using the final product cannot easily prove their packaging contains genuine recycled content. This fragmentation creates real problems. Testing is duplicated at every stage of the supply chain. Recycled content claims cannot be independently verified. As European regulations begin requiring Digital Product Passports for packaging from 2027, UK businesses face a compliance challenge with no clear solution. This feasibility study develops the missing infrastructure: open standards and tools enabling materials passport data to flow between organisations across the circular economy. What we will deliver: A materials passport is a digital record documenting a material's composition, origin, processing history, and environmental footprint. Our project creates the technical specifications allowing these passports to be created, shared, and verified across different computer systems---regardless of which software each company uses. Specifically, we will develop: * An open data format for UK materials passports, building on European frameworks but adapted for practical UK use * Technical specifications for exchanging passport data between business systems * Working demonstration software that organisations can freely use and adapt * An assessment of how this approach could extend beyond plastics to batteries, textiles, and construction materials Who benefits: UK recyclers gain the ability to provide verified material documentation that commands premium pricing. Manufacturers can demonstrate supply chain transparency to increasingly demanding brand customers. Brands can substantiate recycled content claims to regulators and consumers. The entire UK circular economy gains interoperability infrastructure that reduces duplication and builds trust in recycled materials. Our approach: Helix8 operates materials traceability software already deployed at UK polymer recyclers. This real-world experience has revealed the interoperability gap this project addresses. We will work with recycling and manufacturing partners to develop and test standards that work in practice, not just in theory. All technical outputs will be released as open-source resources, freely available for any UK organisation to adopt. Our goal is ecosystem benefit, not proprietary advantage. This project supports the National Materials Innovation Strategy's call for trusted materials data infrastructure underpinning the UK circular economy.