The Albany Gazette - Plastic Isn't the Problem, It's What We Do With It That Matters - And SMX Just Changed That

To fix this, companies and regulators have long relied on tools like audits, certifications, and recycling quotas. These efforts matter. They've moved the needle. But they often depend on external interpretations of what's happening inside the supply chain - creating blind spots between recovery, reuse, and accountability.

SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) was built to eliminate those blind spots. And with the Plastic Cycle Token (PCT), it's not just tracking recycled plastic-it's turning it into a verified, tradeable asset that can finally close the loop.

Embedding Trust Into the Material Itself

The breakthrough behind SMX isn't a label or sticker. It's a microscopic, tamper-proof marker embedded directly into the plastic itself. Whether in raw resin, granulate, or finished form, the material carries its own origin story-proving its content, journey, and integrity.

When that physical proof is connected to a PCT, it becomes more than documentation. It becomes a living record, recognized across systems and markets as a reliable unit of recovered material.

And once plastic can prove its past, it can finally be valued for its future. That's a big deal. And a motivator.

Historically, recycled plastic has been treated as a cost to minimize - not a commodity to maximize. But the PCT changes the equation by tying digital units of value to verified physical recovery. It's not based on estimates or pledges-it's tied to what's actually in the material.

This allows stakeholders to create, hold, or exchange tokens backed by recycled content-without abandoning the systems they already use. Brands gain clarity. Recyclers gain incentive. Supply chains gain efficiency.

And what begins as a system for better material efficiency becomes a pathway into something even more powerful: market participation for the next generation.

A New Generation of Investors Is Watching-and Ready to Act

Today's investors aren't just looking at returns-they're looking at results. Gen X and Millennials are shaping markets with decisions rooted in ethics, transparency, and long-term impact. They want to invest in systems that do good while performing well.

The Plastic Cycle Token answers that call. Because it's built on physically verified data, the PCT gives these investors a way to participate in circularity - not through vague offsets, but through tangible, measurable value. It makes the idea of "ethical investing" real - and makes recovery efforts bankable.

And as more participants demand alignment between profit and purpose, transparency must evolve beyond reporting. It has to be embedded.

Efficiency, Alignment, and Proof-All in One System

While many tools validate material usage through audits or digital tags, SMX operates from the inside out. Its markers remain intact through manufacturing, use, and even recycling - ensuring that what starts as verified plastic stays verified through its entire lifecycle.

Better still, the technology doesn't require companies to reengineer operations. It works within existing processes, amplifying what already functions well - while adding a layer of trust that no external system can match.

That's how SMX becomes more than a tool-it becomes infrastructure.

The Future of Plastic Is Verifiable

When trust is currency, visibility isn't enough. We need verifiability. That's where the PCT stands apart - not as a replacement to what came before, but as a critical enhancement that brings material-level truth into the marketplace.

It's already in use across sectors - computer electronics and hardware, packaging, automotive, agriculture, and more - where trust in materials isn't just a regulatory box to check, but a competitive necessity. And because SMX enables proof that travels with the plastic, value doesn't get lost in translation. It moves with the product - clear, intact, and monetizable.

Plastic may never go away. But with the right tools, it doesn't have to. The PCT makes it traceable. Tradeable. Accountable. And for the first time, it makes the act of recycling plastic just as valuable as the plastic itself.

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.

EMAIL: [email protected]

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters)

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(T.Brown--TAG)