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Tech-enabled traceability: transforming fishing with AI
CategoriesSustainable News

Tech-enabled traceability: transforming fishing with AI

By Zarkon Group,
Tech-enabled traceability: transforming fishing with AI

Spotted: As the world’s oceans continue to experience the damage caused by illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing practices, marine proteins continue to become more expensive. To help combat the effects of overfishing and other harms that come from IUU, the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is encouraging countries to commit to Catch Documentation Schemes (CDS). While compliance and participation are voluntary, so much of the world’s ability to reverse climate change relies on healthy oceans – and that, in turn, relies on more organisations and nations developing fully traceable fish supply chains. 

Costa Rican marine technology company Remora is filling the knowledge gap with a set of digital tools designed to increase transparency at every stage of the fishing process, from sea to plate. The company’s Internet of Things (IoT) Vessel Monitoring System makes tracking small boats affordable and provides a wealth of data in addition to that gathered by the tracking of large fishing boats. At landing and unloading locations, Remora’s Smart Scale uses image processing and artificial intelligence (AI) to measure the weight and dimensions of every fish and save that information to the cloud. Each fish is assigned a digital tag that is then used throughout its journey to the end consumer. 

Also being developed by the company is a mobile app called WhatsFish to connect fishers with marketplaces and provide consumers with information on their food. All three tools contribute to Remora’s aggregator Fishing Data Platform that compiles information for big-picture analysis of the fishing industry, environmental conditions, consumer behaviour, and more. Remora is running a pilot programme in Cabuya, Costa Rica, with 15 fishing boats.  

Seafood is such an important part of the global diet that innovations seeking ways to improve the health of the world’s oceans are focusing on both wild fishing practices and farmed production. Innovations in Springwise’s library include solar-powered tanks for land-based tuna farming and precision technology to reduce bycatch.

Written By: Keely Khoury

Reference

Smart threads for product traceability
CategoriesSustainable News

Smart threads for product traceability

By Zarkon Group,
Smart threads for product traceability

Spotted: Most people are familiar with RFID tags – a type of tracking system that uses smart barcodes in order to identify items. RFID stands for “radio frequency identification,” and the tags use radio waves to transmit data from the tag to a reader. RFID tags have uses as disparate as tracking items in retail stores and warehouses, supply chain management, and tracking the movement of vehicles, pets, and even patients with Alzheimer’s disease.

Now, Circlolink has developed RFID Threads, which it claims are the world’s first washable radio frequency digital ID that stays with the product. The radio transmitter is housed in a single smart thread that can be integrated into products, connecting them to a dedicated cloud platform. The RFID yarn can be inserted into products during manufacture and then all of the details of an item’s manufacture, sourcing, fibre types, and more can be easily tracked across its lifetime. The threads can be used in everything from clothing and mattresses to shoes and homeware, with Circlolink also testing thicker threads for incorporation into tyres.

Circlolink has partnered with e-textile company Adetex.CS, to provide the CIRCAA Cloud platform used to manage the data collected by the threads. The system also allows for the creation of digital product passports, unique QR Codes for customer engagement, and bulk scanning, and acts as a bridge to supply chain management systems.

The company recently launched its Digital Product Passport (DPP) Pilot Package wherein brands can trial the technology with 100 RFID threads, an RFID reader, and access to the CIRCAA app. In the longer term, Circlolink plans to begin distribution of the first 100 million threads over a two-year rollout period. The company points out that producing the threads in bulk will allow it to reduce the cost from $1.50 (around €1.42) per thread as part of the pilot scheme to just $0.11 (around €0.10) each, helping to make the technology as affordable and accessible as possible.

The new RFID threads join recent innovations seeking to improve circularity and traceability. These include a marketplace that connects fashion brands to deadstock materials and a circular marketplace for personal electronics.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Introducing traceability to the cacao value chain
CategoriesSustainable News

Introducing traceability to the cacao value chain

By Zarkon Group,
Introducing traceability to the cacao value chain

Spotted: According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), around 1.3 gigatonnes of edible food is wasted each year — around $750 billion worth (approximately €667 billion). In developing countries, much of this is lost during agricultural production. Startup Cooko is working to change this by reframing the entire value chain, starting with cacao production.

Cooko, which means “source” or “wellspring” in the proto-Bantu language of West Africa, has developed a cloud-based commercial platform that adds traceability to artisanal food chains. The company starts at the point of harvest by inserting a digital click “at-source”, which embeds traceability data in each shipment.

Cooko founder Ferdi van Heerden emphasises that the company’s approach provides a “triple win”. Enhancing first-mile traceability helps farmers earn a fair price for their produce while traders have assurance that the cacao they receive is high quality. Cooko also uses its ‘source-fermented’ label to let consumers know that their product has been equitably sourced.

Van Heerden points out that Cooko’s methodology leads to: “better quality cocoa, higher yields for farmers, and less waste in the supply chain. All of this while supporting better-paid jobs for women and improved cash flow for the poorest farmers.” To date, the company has raised more than €1.7 million, including more than €800,000 in a recent pre-seed round.

Improving traceability is an important part of making supply chains more sustainable. Innovations spotted in the Springwise archive, such as using blockchain to ensure transparency and embedding traceability in finished products, are making a big difference.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference

Traceability data for the fashion industry
CategoriesSustainable News

Traceability data for the fashion industry

By Zarkon Group,
Traceability data for the fashion industry

Spotted: Most organisations have realised the importance of sustainability for their brand image. However, it is very difficult to guarantee supply chain transparency and product traceability over the large networks of suppliers that most big businesses rely on. To make things easier, Swedish company TrusTrace has developed a platform for product traceability and supply chain transparency within the fashion, food, and retail industries.

The TrusTrace platform uses artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain to integrate retailer, manufacturer, and supplier systems, as well as third parties such as certification agencies, lifecycle datasets, and other sustainability solution providers. The system allows users to track and trace materials and ESG and compliance data for thousands of suppliers and products. Unlike some similar systems, TrusTrace is built specifically for the scale of ultra-large and complex textile supply chains, providing the fashion industry with much-needed transparency.

The software-as-a-service platform allows organisations to track transactions and scope certificates in a standardised and scalable way, while gathering the evidence needed to meet compliance requirements, and see the status of goods as they move through the supply chain.

TrusTrace co-founder and CEO Shameek Ghosh explains: “We have developed our Material Intelligence Frameworks for certified and non-certified materials, which accelerates a brand’s journey to achieve high levels of material compliance. Our goal is to make sure traceability data is accessible in real-time along the value chain as raw materials become finished products.”

Improving sustainability and traceability in the textile industry is the goal of several innovations Springwise has spotted. These include a platform that helps fashion brands have better control over their sustainability data, and a closed-loop production system for cotton goods.

Written By: Lisa Magloff

Reference