104605SmartWater: Forensic protection to ensure the ethical disposal of wasteClosedCollaborative R&DInnovate UK"Globally, production of plastics exceeds 300 million tonnes per annum and it is likely that a similar quantity of plastics will be produced in the next eight years as was produced in the whole of the 20th century. Contamination of the natural environment with plastics can have a range of negative effects on marine life, including species important in commercial fisheries, as well as on maritime industries and infrastructure. Currently, one of the biggest drivers of waste dumping is commercial companies winning tenders to safely dispose of which ends up dumped in the ocean, on our beaches or in the countryside due to cost-cutting and a lack of accountability. Currently, there is no way of bringing the rogue waste management companies to account through ""tagging"" waste at its origin, hence Governments are seeking a solution to ensure the ethical disposal of waste and reduce this trend. SmartWater is an award-winning technology company who have for 20 years been at the forefront of forensic tagging science, responsible for the development of a method of establishing provenance, called 'traceable liquids'. Each water-based, clear and non-hazardous solution contains a unique forensic formula, with millions of combinations available, which can be applied to valuable assets, either by spraying or brushing on, and is active under UV light. SmartWater solutions are extremely robust and can reduce fire, solvents and even the harshest of environments and have been accepted as a viable technique for proving ownership of recovered stolen property in both the European/US Federal Courts. However, in order to address the challenges above, SmartWater will need to undertake significant R&D, including: 1) Concentrating their formula from 'parts-per-million' to 'parts-per-billion' to reduce significantly the amount of forensic materials used and, thereby the costs of the process. 2) Adapt the polymer solution to attach the unique barcode to be durable for many decades in a range of geographic environments. 3) Develop a gantry misting devise to automatically apply SmartWater to all waste leaving the site. This gantry will be connected with remote monitoring devices and provide data synergise with a Blockchain distributable ledger and reporting system to be made available to international Environmental Protection Agencies and ensure the recorded data cannot be tampered with 4) Develop a remote misting gantry that can be moved with a vehicle for use in other markets, such as tagging commodities such as rare materials/diamonds/amazon timber to hold accountable unethical sourcing."