Japanese Conglomerate Taps Blockchain for Plastics Supply Chain Traceability

Marubeni has inked a partnership deal with Circularise in a bid to tap the latter’s distributed ledger technology (DLT) solution for the tracking of materials in its chemicals and plastics supply chain and ensure its partners adhere to sustainable practices, according to a blog post on February 9, 2021.

Plastics on the Blockchain 

According to experts, plastics are one of the most destructive materials that have been manufactured by humans, as it takes hundreds of years for them to degrade when disposed of, coupled with the fact that they contain various carcinogenic and toxic chemicals, including antimony trioxide, phthalates, mercury, bisphenol, cadmium and more.

Now, as part of efforts to foster sustainability and transparency in the industry, Japanese conglomerate Marubeni is forging alliances with Circularise,  a Dutch blockchain company that claims to be focused on helping stakeholders across supply chains to trace raw materials from source to end products.

As stated in a blog post, the partnership deal will see Circularise integrate blockchain technology into Marubeni’s supply chain to facilitate sustainable raw materials sourcing to Japan, while also maintaining the privacy of sensitive data.

Building a Sustainable Society 

While the project has a global scope, the team says it plans to first trial the initiative with Marubeni’s Japanese clients, and if successful, Circularise and Marubeni will weigh the possibilities of floating a joint venture in Japan, to scale the blockchain-based sustainability solution.

Commenting on the project, Terumasa Watanabe, Senior Operating Officer, the Head of Plastics Business at Marubeni reiterated that he firmly believes that Circularise blockchain technology has the potential to provide visibility and enable improved decision making when it comes to sustainable raw material sourcing.”

Circularise, which secured a EUR 1.5 million grant from the European Union in September 2020, says it has been developing its blockchain platform since 2016 and the system has the ability to enable tamper-proof trail of audit for raw materials, while also maintaining confidentiality where necessary.

“By working together Marubeni and Circularise will contribute to the realization of a sustainable society and over the years put all supply chain actors in the position to implement circular economy practices at scale,” added Jordi de Vos, the Founder of Circularise.

Thanks to its immutability property, a vast array of players in various industries are now adopting blockchain technology. As reported by BTCManager on February 3, 2021, Rio Tinto, a leading metals and mining corporation integrated blockchain technology into its operations.

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