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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.

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 regulations require improvement of plastic packaging waste management to meet higher recycling rates. One solution for today's multilayers and other sorting challenges is tracer‐based‐sorting (TBS). TBS uses fluorescent tracers to provide sorting information on packagings. Industrial printing tests with tracer materials showed good printing quality. For TBS waste management feasibility studies, extensive packaging sorting plant input analyses were carried out, focusing on materials, color, label type, and label whereabouts. Sorting tests on a TBS‐modified NIR‐sorter resulted in excellent detection rates. LCA showed the reduced climate impact of TBS compared to conventional sorting technology. Implementation and transfer of TBS to other industries show high potential.

The use of sequence‐defined polymers is an interesting emerging solution for materials identification and traceability. Indeed, a very large amount of identification sequences can be created using a limited alphabet of coded monomers. However, in all reported studies, sequence‐defined taggants are usually included in a host material by noncovalent adsorption or entrapment, which may lead to leakage, aggregation, or degradation. To avoid these problems, sequence‐defined polymers are covalently attached in the present work to the mesh of model materials, namely acrylamide hydrogels. To do so, sequence‐coded polyurethanes containing a disulfide linker and a terminal methacrylamide moiety are synthesized by stepwise solid‐phase synthesis. These methacrylamide macromonomers are afterward copolymerized with acrylamide and bisacrylamide in order to achieve cross‐linked hydrogels containing covalently‐bound polyurethane taggants. It is shown herein that these taggants can be selectively detached from the hydrogel mesh by reactive desorption electrospray ionization. Using dithiothreitol the disulfide linker that links the taggant to the gel can be selectively cleaved. Ultimately, the released taggants can be decoded by tandem mass spectrometry.