To improve the recycling quality of plastics packaging and achieve high recycling rates new identification and sorting technologies are required. Tracer-based-sorting (TBS) is an innovative identification technology based on fluorescent tracers and a corresponding detection unit. TBS can be considered a radical technology change towards a circular economy for plastics and to support sustainability as it has the potential to render several established sorting and/or recycling steps obsolete. This article shows which drivers and barriers are perceived by stakeholders with regard to the implementation of TBS in the market and how challenges are addressed responsibly in the early phases of the innovation process. Influencing external factors and framework conditions of TBS are identified and suitable business models for TBS in a circular economy are discussed. Further, practical recommendations on how to optimize technology and market development for TBS are provided. To obtain these results a mixed method approach of integrated innovation and sustainability analysis, external environment analysis (PESTEL analysis), and business model development approaches was chosen. The research results can be understood as a practical contribution towards a responsible and sustainable implementation of a radical technology-based innovation for a circular economy of plastics.

This paper elaborates an energy and material flow model for conventional lightweight packaging sorting and recycling in Germany based on literature analysis and information provided by industry experts. The model is used to determine specific energy and material demands of particular lightweight packaging fractions and their respective climate impacts. Fluorescent-based identification techniques, tracer-based-sorting in particular, are assessed as an option to increase material circularity due to improved sorting and recycling accuracy. In comparison to primary production of lightweight packaging, conventional sorting and recycling saves 565 kg CO₂-eq./Mg of input sorting. A total of four implementation scenarios are considered, reflecting the percentage of mixed plastics and residuals that can be mechanically processed through improved sorting (10%, 50%, 90% and 100%). Using tracer-based-sorting, these savings increase from 578 up to 1227 kg CO₂-eq/Mg depending on implementation scenario. This paper concludes that tracer-based-sorting can contribute to an environmentally benign circular economy by yielding high-quality regranulates, which are capable of substituting more carbon-intensive primary production of lightweight packaging.

In Deutschland werden weniger als die Hälfte aller Kunststoffabfälle werkstofflich verwertet. Eine Option um die zukünftigen Recyclingvorgaben zu erreichen ist die Verwendung anorganischer fluoreszierender Markermaterialien. Dieser Tracer‐Based Sorting(TBS)‐Ansatz wird bereits zur PVC‐Mahlgut‐Sortierung eingesetzt. Auf Anti‐Stokes‐Fluoreszenz basierende Markierungsstoffe in ppm‐Konzentrationen schaffen ein System von Sortiercodes, das in Zukunft hochwertige Rezyklate ermöglicht. TBS wird für die Sortierung von Kunststoffverpackungen aus Haushalten entwickelt und getestet.

New technologies can be the basis for resource‐efficient products and services and thus create eco‐innovations, either by creating new functionalities in existing or new application fields or by substituting existing technologies in existing or new application fields. In this paper, an overview over different technology fields, products and strategies with resource efficiency potential, such as nanotechnologies, material science, manufacturing technologies, process technologies and cross‐cutting issues, is presented. There is a special focus on applications from nanotechnology issuing, e.g. functional surfaces or new ‘smart' materials with special functionalities. Furthermore, it is shown how companies can use the method Resource Efficiency Technology Radar to identify and evaluate technologies with resource efficiency in order to incorporate them into their development activities.

The implementation of Circular Business Models (CBMs) represents a key step for a successful transformation of the global economy towards circularity. The establishment of CBMs is therefore actively promoted and demanded by the European Commission according to the EU Circular Economy Action Plan 2020. To support their implementation, one of the basic building blocks is the application of innovative technologies that enable the analysis and control of material flows deriving the necessity of object identification and corresponding automatic identification (Auto‐ID) technologies. The verification of this statement is the research object of the study presented. Based on the results of two systematic literature reviews, the overall relevance of object identification in CBMs is confirmed. Additionally, the application potentials of certain Auto‐ID technologies are proposed.