NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / August 28, 2025 / The global plastics system is broken-and everyone in the supply chain knows it. Let's be clear up front- this article isn't about blame. And it shouldn't be. Regulators have set ambitious targets, corporations are investing billions, and NGOs continue to raise awareness. Their intent is genuine and deserves recognition. In fact, thanks to these efforts, demand for recycled plastics has never been higher.
But here's the catch: rising demand hasn't translated into rising results, which should be the outcome. After all, supply is abundant, with millions of tonnes of plastic waste worldwide, more than enough to serve multiple industries at once. Despite that, recycling rates remain stuck in the single digits. That makes it clear the problem isn't availability or ambition. It's a system built too narrowly to connect abundant supply with real, verifiable demand.
That design flaw - not a lack of effort or intent - is why circularity remains out of reach. By treating plastics as if they were a single material and focusing almost exclusively on packaging, the system leaves entire industries unserved. And that's exactly where SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) steps in - bringing a technological toolbox capable of redesigning the system to capture and monetize all grades and types of plastics. By embedding molecular proof directly into all types of materials, SMX reconnects waste with demand, turning what the old system excluded into a new standard that the entire plastics economy can build on and profit from.
Follow the Plastics Money Trail
The numbers tell the story. The recycled plastics market is worth between $50 billion and $55 billion today. Of that, rPET-the headline material in bottles and packaging-represents only $12.9 billion. That leaves a massive $38B-$43B dollar addressable market locked in non-packaging polymers. These are the plastics used in cars, buildings, textiles, and electronics-the real engines of global demand-yet they've been largely ignored by the existing system.
Not because the industries don't want recycled content. Not because recyclers aren't ready to supply it. But because the system was designed too narrowly to track, verify, and prove it at scale. SMX changes that equation. With SMX's molecular-level markers that survive use, recycling, and even chemical processing, every polymer-whether food-grade PET or industrial composites-becomes its own Global Plastics Passport. In other words, proof is no longer fragile or externally applied; it's intrinsic to the material.
This is material efficiency in action. And it makes winners all around. Regulators get a compliance tool they can trust. Brands gain defensible proof for sustainability claims. Industrial buyers finally access the recycled inputs they need with certainty. That's not all. Waste becomes an asset. Compliance becomes profitability. Circularity becomes measurable. And through the Plastic Cycle Token, SMX converts that proof into something every player wants-a financial instrument that is tradable, monetizable, and rewarding to every player in the loop.
Proof, Incentives, and Leadership
Best said, SMX is rewriting the market dynamic. Need proof? Consider this: a packaging producer does more than check boxes; it creates a portfolio of verified assets. An automaker doesn't just comply with recycled content quotas; it tokenizes inputs that strengthen its balance sheet. A construction supplier doesn't simply source recycled feedstock; it unlocks profitability from what already exists in the system. All of this happens because SMX is turning recycled plastics into a currency of value, not just a cost of compliance.
And look no further than Singapore and ASEAN, which are at the forefront of this transition. By treating circularity as an operational priority and backing it with working, not pilot-stage digital frameworks, like SMX's, they are proving what leadership by example looks like. Their ambition is real. And as importantly, they are willing to show that ambition alone won't cut it. They recognize the need for a technological, digitally-focused, and molecular-based toolbox. SMX provides it: molecular proof, material efficiency, and the monetization layer that finally makes circularity pay.
Said differently, Singapore and ASEAN recognize that the old system wasn't short on ambition-it was short on design. And design is exactly what SMX provides. Not through tags, stickers, or registries, but by embedding intelligence directly into the material and linking it to economic reward. That shift rewires the entire model: circularity no longer depends on promises, it runs on proof - and proof that pays. With SMX leading the way, circularity becomes measurable, profitable, and scalable. That scalable incentive is what will draw in hundreds more players (countries) worldwide, transforming today's regional leadership into a global movement.
Sources and references:
https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/the-role-of-plastics-in-europe
https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/publications/reports/2022/02/global-plastics-outlook_a653d1c9/de747aef-en.pdf
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/recycled-plastics-market
https://www.towardschemandmaterials.com/insights/recycled-pet-market
https://apnews.com/article/5dc4e1a1618a73930ba73db801bc0589
https://www.eco-business.com/news/singapores-plastic-recycling-rate-drops-to-5-per-cent/
https://www.reuters.com/article/world/in-singapore-where-trash-becomes-ash-plastics-are-still-a-problem-idUSKCN1J20GZ/
https://www.nea.gov.sg/our-services/waste-management/waste-statistics-and-overall-recycling
https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/recycled-plastic-market-115486722.html
https://www.verifiedmarketreports.com/product/food-grade-rpet-market/
About SMX
As global businesses face new and complex challenges relating to carbon neutrality and meeting new governmental and regional regulations and standards, SMX is able to offer players along the value chain access to its marking, tracking, measuring and digital platform technology to transition more successfully to a low-carbon economy.
Forward-Looking Statements
The information in this press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intends," "may," "will," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would" and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements in this press release may include, for example: matters relating to the Company's fight against abusive and possibly illegal trading tactics against the Company's stock; successful launch and implementation of SMX's joint projects with manufacturers and other supply chain participants of gold, steel, rubber and other materials; changes in SMX's strategy, future operations, financial position, estimated revenues and losses, projected costs, prospects and plans; SMX's ability to develop and launch new products and services, including its planned Plastic Cycle Token; SMX's ability to successfully and efficiently integrate future expansion plans and opportunities; SMX's ability to grow its business in a cost-effective manner; SMX's product development timeline and estimated research and development costs; the implementation, market acceptance and success of SMX's business model; developments and projections relating to SMX's competitors and industry; and SMX's approach and goals with respect to technology. These forward-looking statements are based on information available as of the date of this press release, and current expectations, forecasts and assumptions, and involve a number of judgments, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing views as of any subsequent date, and no obligation is undertaken to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date they were made, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. As a result of a number of known and unknown risks and uncertainties, actual results or performance may be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Some factors that could cause actual results to differ include: the ability to maintain the listing of the Company's shares on Nasdaq; changes in applicable laws or regulations; any lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on SMX's business; the ability to implement business plans, forecasts, and other expectations, and identify and realize additional opportunities; the risk of downturns and the possibility of rapid change in the highly competitive industry in which SMX operates; the risk that SMX and its current and future collaborators are unable to successfully develop and commercialize SMX's products or services, or experience significant delays in doing so; the risk that the Company may never achieve or sustain profitability; the risk that the Company will need to raise additional capital to execute its business plan, which may not be available on acceptable terms or at all; the risk that the Company experiences difficulties in managing its growth and expanding operations; the risk that third-party suppliers and manufacturers are not able to fully and timely meet their obligations; the risk that SMX is unable to secure or protect its intellectual property; the possibility that SMX may be adversely affected by other economic, business, and/or competitive factors; and other risks and uncertainties described in SMX's filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SMX (Security Matters)
EMAIL: info@securitymattersltd.com
SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited
View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire:
https://www.accessnewswire.com/newsroom/en/business-and-professional-services/billions-in-demand-broken-supply-system-in-turmoil-smx-delivers-1066183
