NEW YORK CITY, NY / ACCESS Newswire / March 24, 2026 / SMX (Security Matters) PLC (NASDAQ: SMX) is redefining the economics of everyday goods by proving that advanced plastic recycling technology can directly reduce costs for consumers. At a time when inflation continues to pressure household budgets-and global conflict is disrupting energy markets, driving volatility in oil and gas prices-SMX enables manufacturers to produce high-quality goods using verified recycled materials without the price instability associated with virgin plastic.

Plastic sits at the center of the global economy, embedded in everything from food packaging and clothing to electronics and household essentials. For decades, the cost of these products has been tied to virgin plastic, which is directly linked to oil and gas markets. When energy prices rise, so does the cost of producing new plastic-creating a ripple effect that ultimately reaches consumers at the shelf.

SMX breaks that cycle.

Through its molecular marking technology, SMX embeds a permanent, invisible identifier into plastic materials, connecting each batch to a secure digital record. This allows recycled plastic to be verified with precision, ensuring it meets the same standards of reliability and performance historically associated with virgin materials. Combined with its traceability platform, this enables plastics to carry a persistent, verifiable identity throughout their lifecycle-allowing manufacturers to reliably source and reuse high-quality recycled materials at scale, replacing dependence on increasingly expensive virgin inputs.

In parallel, SMX's blockchain-enabled digital platform reinforces these efficiencies by creating a secure, transparent record of each material's lifecycle. By linking physical materials to immutable digital identities, SMX enables real-time verification of origin, composition, and reuse history. This reduces fraud, eliminates costly verification gaps, and streamlines transactions across the supply chain. The result is a more efficient marketplace for recycled materials-where trust is built into the system, administrative costs are reduced, and procurement decisions can be made with speed and certainty.

The result is a structural shift in cost dynamics.

Recycled plastic, when verified and standardized through SMX's platform, becomes a stable and cost-efficient alternative to virgin material. Unlike oil-derived plastics, which fluctuate with energy markets, recycled materials can be sourced from existing supply streams-reducing exposure to price spikes and supply chain disruptions.

For manufacturers, this creates immediate economic advantages. Verified recycled inputs lower raw material costs, improve supply predictability, and reduce waste. For consumers, those efficiencies translate into more stable-and often lower-prices across a wide range of everyday products.

This is not a marginal improvement. It is a re-pricing of the system.

As regulatory pressure increases and sustainability targets become mandatory across global markets, companies are being forced to incorporate recycled content into their products. Historically, this shift has come with trade-offs-higher costs, inconsistent quality, and limited supply. SMX eliminates those barriers by delivering certified, traceable recycled plastics that perform to the same standards as virgin materials.

By removing uncertainty from the recycled materials market, SMX unlocks scale.

Its technology ensures that recycled plastic is not only available, but verifiably consistent in composition and quality-enabling manufacturers to confidently integrate it into production without cost penalties. This consistency reduces processing inefficiencies, minimizes material loss, and further drives down production costs.

At the same time, SMX's platform creates a transparent, data-driven marketplace for recycled materials. By tracking plastics from origin through reuse, SMX enables accurate valuation, better procurement decisions, and optimized material flows-introducing a level of efficiency that has historically been absent from the recycling economy.

In a world where energy costs remain elevated and supply chains are under constant pressure, this matters.

Plastic is no longer just a material-it is a cost driver. And the ability to reuse it efficiently is becoming one of the most powerful levers for controlling prices across industries.

SMX positions itself at the center of this shift, turning waste into a verified, tradable, and economically advantageous resource.

"Recycling has always been viewed as a sustainability initiative," said SMX. "What we are demonstrating is that it is also a cost strategy. When you can trust the quality and origin of recycled materials, you can use them at scale-and when you use them at scale, you lower costs across the system."

From food packaging and apparel to consumer goods and industrial applications, the implications are far-reaching. By reducing reliance on virgin plastic and stabilizing material inputs, SMX enables companies to protect margins without passing rising costs on to consumers.

This is the future of materials: verified, efficient, and economically optimized.

And for consumers, it means something simple but powerful-better products at better prices.

About SMX (Security Matters) PLC

SMX (NASDAQ: SMX) is a global technology company focused on digitizing physical materials to enable a more transparent, efficient, and sustainable circular economy. Through its proprietary molecular marking, tracking, and data platform, SMX creates persistent identities for materials that can be verified across supply chains, supporting applications in plastics, textiles, metals, and beyond.

Press Contact: Billy White/ billywhitepr@gmail.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited