Marks & Spencer (M&S) is pioneering a novel approach to packaging recycling by introducing invisible ultraviolet (UV) tags on some of its milk bottles to track them through the recycling system. Developed by the recycling technology firm Polytag, these UV tags are printed onto the labels of M&S’s four-pint milk bottles, now available in stores nationwide. The aim is to enhance the transparency and efficiency of the recycling process by allowing the bottles to be scanned by Polytag’s detection units at recycling facilities equipped with the technology.

This innovation marks the first time such invisible tagging has been rolled out on retail shelves in the UK. Through the tagging system, M&S gains access to live, barcode-level data that provides real-time insights into the journey of its single-use plastic packaging from households back to recycling centres. This granular data is expected to help accurately track sustainability targets, improve the precision of recycling claims, and ensure better compliance with the extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations. These regulations require businesses to bear the cost and management responsibility for the packaging waste they generate, motivating retailers like M&S to adopt more accountable and measurable recycling strategies.

Beyond supporting compliance, the UV tag system is hoped to reduce M&S’s costs under EPR rules through more accurate reporting. To help drive a broader rollout of this innovative recycling tracking, M&S has invested £100,000 into Polytag’s Ecotrace programme, which aims to establish a nationwide network of invisible UV tag readers at recycling centres. As a founding member of Ecotrace, M&S will benefit from real-time data flows on the collection and sorting of its plastic packaging across strategically important recycling sites.

Other major UK retailers including the Co-op, Waitrose, and Aldi are also exploring the introduction of UV tags on their products, indicating a wider industry shift towards more traceable and accountable packaging waste management. Polytag’s chief executive, Alice Rackley, emphasises that this technology addresses the need for transparency beyond the supply chain and signals a fundamental change in how responsibility for packaging waste is managed. Speaking on the development, Rackley noted that with EPR regulations now in force, the availability of real data becomes essential rather than optional, forging a clear view of packaging from shelf to sorting facility.

Progress in the rollout includes installation of Polytag readers at multiple recycling sites, such as locations in Northern Ireland, north London, Teesside, and north Wales, with further government-supported installations planned in Wales. Polytag intends to expand the network to cover a significant proportion of the UK’s single-use plastic household waste, aiming for over 12 operational sites within a year to cover roughly half of the recycling throughput, with long-term plans to expand to nearly 50 sites covering 95% of household plastic waste.

M&S’s head of packaging, Mark Hitschmann, highlighted the importance of this initiative to customer trust and sustainability goals, noting that many customers care deeply about reducing plastic waste. This tagging technology offers shoppers confidence that M&S is actively enhancing sustainability and making it easier for them to make responsible choices. The initiative also provides M&S with a verified benchmark to understand and improve the real-world recycling rates of its packaging, reinforcing the company’s commitment to environmental accountability and transparency.

This adoption of invisible UV tagging technology, supported by both private investment and public sector collaboration, represents a significant milestone for the UK’s recycling industry. It illustrates how retailers and recycling technology firms are working in tandem to tackle the challenges of plastic waste management while meeting evolving regulatory demands and consumer expectations.