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Press releases - October 22, 2019

Pragmatic joins forces with Topolytics on UK Government circular economy initiative

Ultra-low-cost RFID enables comprehensive digital waste tracking

Pragmatic has announced another order for its ConnectIC® family of ultra-low-cost flexible integrated circuits. Topolytics, a leading waste analytics company, will use RFID tags incorporating Pragmatic’s unique technology to deliver the UK’s first comprehensive digital waste tracking solution.

Topolytics uses machine learning and mapping to generate informative reports through its WasteMap platform. The system collates data from mobile devices and apps, logistics and waste management systems and sensors on waste, containers or vehicles.

As part of a UK Government initiative, Topolytics will now leverage Pragmatic’s products to enable item-level digital tracking of waste. ConnectICs are flexible and thinner than a human hair, suitable for embedding into a wide range of substrates including both paper and plastic. The insights gained from this deployment will be used to improve regulations and processes for more efficient waste management across the UK.

According to Michael Groves, CEO of Topolytics, “Pragmatic’s solution will provide a uniquely rich source of data about the identities and locations of objects in the real world, enabling our platform to generate even more compelling insights.”

Following the launch of the ConnectIC product family earlier this year and involvement in the initial Government-funded smart waste tracking challenge, Pragmatic has also worked with the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) and one of its members. This pilot project clearly demonstrated how ConnectIC-based RFID tags can simplify the recycling or disposal of used tyres.

Tim Stott, President, TRA, confirmed: “We have now proven that item-level digital tracking is a viable long-term solution for the tyre recovery sector, which processes over 40 million used tyres in the UK every year.”

“We are excited to be working with Topolytics on this initiative,” said Scott White, CEO of Pragmatic. “As demand for Pragmatic’s ground-breaking technology continues to escalate, with a wide range of different applications for global organisations across diverse markets, Pragmatic’s collaborations with innovative solution partners are key.”

To learn more about Pragmatic, visit www.pragmaticsemi.com 

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About Pragmatic Semiconductor 

Pragmatic Semiconductor is a leader in semiconductor innovation, creating ultra low cost, ultra thin, flexible integrated circuits (‘electronic chips’).

Pragmatic’s chip is produced without silicon, using thin-film semiconductors to create flexible integrated circuits that are thinner than a human hair, and are significantly cheaper and faster to produce than silicon chips. This provides a compelling alternative for many mainstream electronics applications, as well as enabling new applications not possible with silicon.

Pragmatic’s chips can be embedded into almost anything, bringing connectivity and intelligence to everyday objects. Example applications include radio frequency identification (RFID) and near field communications (NFC) giving objects unique digital identities as well as enabling objects to interact with their environment. This has benefits across the entire product lifecycle, including inventory reduction, traceability, counterfeit detection, proof of provenance, and customer interaction. Pragmatic’s technology can also be used to help reduce food waste, improve the return and recycling of singleuse packaging, and enable item-level traceability within a universal system for recapture, sorting, cleaning, and return.

Our foundry service uniquely allows agile hardware design, exponentially accelerating solution development and time-to-market. Examples include proprietary RFID protocols, time/temperature indicators, fingerprint sensors, wearable smart patches for healthcare, flexible display drivers, and novel microprocessor architectures.

We also offer a Fab-as-a-Service model that enables secure, dependable, localised semiconductor supply through manufacturing directly on a customer’s site. This highly scalable distributed production allows cost effective, high-volume fabrication of flexible integrated circuits.

Pragmatic is headquartered in Cambridge, UK, with our first fab operating in Sedgefield, and a second fab under construction at our new 15-acre Pragmatic Park site in Durham.

For more information please contact pr@pragmaticsemi.com

About Topolytics

Topolytics is a smart grid for the world’s waste. It is a data analytics business that is mapping the generation, movement and fate of commercial and industrial waste materials globally. The resulting insights help waste producers and waste processors to maintain this material at its highest utility.  It supports commercial investment decisions around processing, recycling, remanufacturing and other ways of extracting value from waste materials and used assets.  It also arms regulators and policy makers with better data, analysis and decision support, ultimately enabling a circular economy at scale.   The company has been recognised by Cleantech Group as a leading player in the £2bn ‘wastetech’ sector for applying data science and analytics to waste.  It has also been recognised as a leading global circular economy innovator by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.  In January 2019, it was highly commended in the Tech Disruptor category of ‘The Circulars’ – the leading global circular economy awards.  In May 2019, it won the Google Cloud and SAP Circular Economy 2030 competition from more than 250 applicants globally.

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