According to a chemical manufacturer in Saudi Arabia, a blockchain pilot that just got underway will explore the technology’s potential for “supporting end-to-end digital traceability of circular feedstock in customer products.” Blockchain technology is expected to have several advantages, including faster data integration and reduced costs and time.
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC), a producer of chemicals in Saudi Arabia, recently announced the start of a blockchain pilot project in collaboration with Finboot. The pilot program’s goal, according to the chemicals manufacturer, is to “investigate the possibilities of blockchain technology in supporting end-to-end digital traceability of circular feedstock [raw materials] in customer products.”
According to a press release from SABIC, the complicated petrochemical value chain makes it challenging to follow the path of feedstock in its current form. In order to “go further than previous industry applications of blockchain in end-to-end tracing,” SABIC, which is 70% owned by Saudi Arabia’s oil giant Aramco, plans to “trace the product from feedstock production to [the] converter” through the pilot.
The blockchain pilot is expected to reduce costs and time, as well as improve data integration, the statement said. The company also hopes the pilot will help reduce administrative efforts related to the certification process of materials. In remarks following the announcement of the pilot’s launch, Waleed Al-Shalfan, the vice president of Polymers Technology & Innovation at SABIC said:
At SABIC, we have a deep commitment to innovation and technology that can help us to deliver more sustainable solutions to our customers. Our vision to create a circular economy for plastics requires a total transformation of the value chain, and pioneering partnerships with partners both upstream and downstream. Blockchain technology holds exciting potential for the provision of our TRUCIRCLE products to customers, and therefore for our commitment to supporting customers in their sustainability ambitions.
Juan Miguel Pérez Rosas, CEO of Finboot, said the pilot will “contribute to the development and progression of a circular economy.”
According to the press statement, Finboot’s MARCO software will be used as a “middleware layer” that tracks the product from Plastic Energy where it’s produced, to its delivery to SABIC for conversion into its Trucircle circular polymers. The delivery of circular polymers to Intraplás “for conversion into their packaging solutions” will also be tracked.
Throughout the process, the technology will ensure the immutability of all collected data that must be distributed to suppliers, customers, and regulators. This, according to the press statement, provides “transparency, auditability, and accountability in a complex industrial ecosystem.”
