SMX at NAFRA: A Signal to Recyclers That Industrial Traceability Is Finally Arriving

Rhea-AI Summary

SMX (NASDAQ:SMX) returned to the NAFRA forum on December 10, 2025, signalling industry attention to its industrial sorting and traceability tech.

Earlier this year SMX demonstrated 99%–100% industrial-speed sorting accuracy, including for carbon-black plastics often missed by NIR systems. NAFRA's renewed engagement frames the technology as a practical solution for identifying flame-retardant plastics, enabling molecular-level identity, a digital passport for materials, and potential reintroduction of formerly disposable streams into higher-value circular markets.

Positive

• Demonstrated 99%–100% sorting accuracy at industrial speed
• Identifies carbon-black plastics missed by NIR systems
• Enables molecular-level identity and a digital material passport
• Potential to unlock resale value for flame-retardant plastics

Negative

• Widespread commercial adoption has not yet arrived

Key Figures

Sorting accuracy 99%–100% Industrial-speed sorting demo, including carbon-black materials

Market Reality Check

$146.00 Last Close

Volume Price is up 7.5% on volume of 702,530, which is only 0.18x the 20-day average, suggesting limited participation ahead of this positive traceability-focused news. low

Technical With shares at $146 versus a 200-day MA of $2,066.45 and flagged as trading below that level, the stock remained technically weak despite the favorable operational narrative.

Peers on Argus 4 Up

SMX gained 7.5% while several Industrials peers (e.g., LICN, PMAX, SFHG) also showed gains and appeared on momentum scans, yet the scanner still flags this as not a coordinated sector move, suggesting the NAFRA-related traceability news is more stock-specific.

Historical Context

Date	Event	Sentiment	Move	Catalyst
Dec 09	Financing amendment	Negative	+7.5%	Raised standby equity capacity and added discounted convertible note.
Dec 09	Technology positioning	Positive	+7.5%	Highlighted molecular embedding tech enabling verified circularity across materials.
Dec 09	Deployment update	Positive	+7.5%	Reported 2025 deployments and pilots across plastics, metals, and ASEAN programs.
Dec 09	Adoption narrative	Positive	+7.5%	Framed 2025 as turning point with expanding partnerships and verification use cases.
Dec 08	Tokenization concept	Positive	-59.1%	Proposed Plastic Cycle Token linking verified recycling to digital asset value.

Pattern Detected

Recent technology- and strategy-focused releases on circularity and verification have mostly coincided with positive price reactions, while a tokenization/value-capture themed release saw a sharp decline, indicating mixed reception to more financialized narratives.

Recent Company History

Over the past few days, SMX issued multiple updates highlighting its material-authentication and circularity technology, including deployments across plastics, metals, textiles, and global recycling programs on Dec 9, 2025. An amendment to a $111.5M equity purchase agreement, increasing potential proceeds to $116.5M, also coincided with a 7.5% move. However, a Dec 8, 2025 release on tokenizing verified plastic recycling preceded a -59.09% reaction, contrasting with the favorable response to subsequent technology-centric communications like today’s NAFRA engagement.

Market Pulse Summary

This announcement underscores SMX’s focus on industrial-scale traceability for complex waste streams, highlighting 99%–100% accuracy in sorting flame-retardant and carbon-black plastics. The renewed NAFRA engagement positions the technology within industry discussions on compliance, cost control, and circularity. Recent company communications have also featured financing changes and reverse splits, so investors may watch how operational traction, capital structure decisions, and regulatory filings intersect as SMX pursues broader adoption.

Key Terms

flame-retardant plastics technical

"Flame-retardant plastics sit at the center of this problem."

Flame-retardant plastics are materials engineered or treated to resist catching fire, slow flame spread, or self-extinguish when exposed to heat; this can be achieved by using special additives or by changing the plastic’s chemical structure. For investors they matter because safety rules, product approvals, and insurance costs can drive demand or restrict use—think of them like fire-resistant clothing for products, influencing manufacturing costs, market access, and long-term resale or liability risk.

near-infrared systems technical

"including for carbon-black materials that near-infrared systems routinely miss."

Near-infrared systems are devices that use invisible near-infrared light to peer beneath surfaces or through materials, much like a flashlight that reveals hidden layers rather than colors. They are used for medical imaging, non‑invasive monitoring, quality inspection and sensing, and can turn scientific measurements into commercial products or services. Investors watch them because regulatory approvals, accuracy and production costs determine whether a company can scale sales, win contracts and generate recurring revenue.

digital passport technical

"and carrying that identity through a digital passport, recyclers gain access"

A digital passport is an electronic credential that proves a person’s identity, qualifications, or health status online, like a regular passport or driver’s license for your internet life. It matters to investors because it enables companies to verify customers, comply with rules across borders, and unlock new services or markets; wider adoption can drive sales and reduce fraud risks, while regulatory changes or privacy concerns can affect costs and growth.

circular economy technical

"It restores value that has been locked out of the circular economy."

A circular economy is a way of designing and using products so that materials are reused, repaired, or recycled rather than discarded as waste. It mimics natural systems where resources are continually reused, reducing environmental impact and conserving resources. For investors, it represents an opportunity to support sustainable businesses that focus on efficiency and long-term resource management.

traceability technical

"Industrial-strength traceability is no longer theoretical."

Traceability is the ability to follow a product, component, or piece of data backward and forward through every step of its lifecycle, like reading a parcel’s tracking history to see where it came from and where it went. For investors, strong traceability lowers risk by making recalls, quality problems, and regulatory breaches easier and cheaper to manage, while boosting consumer trust, supply-chain efficiency, and the reliability of reported information.

AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.

NAFRA's renewed engagement places SMX on the radar of the operators who feel the impact most

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESS Newswire / December 10, 2025 / Recyclers live with the consequences of every upstream decision. When manufacturers introduce additives, colorants, and flame retardants into plastics, recyclers inherit the complexity. They are the ones forced to manage contamination, comply with regulations, and absorb the cost of sorting materials that cannot be reliably identified.

Flame-retardant plastics sit at the center of this problem. They are essential for safety but difficult to classify, and they often move straight to disposal because existing technologies cannot separate them with consistent accuracy. That is why SMX's (NASDAQ:SMX) return to the NAFRA forum sends a powerful signal downstream.

Recyclers pay attention when leadership bodies highlight a tool that has solved a longstanding bottleneck. Earlier this year, SMX demonstrated industrial-speed sorting with 99%-100% accuracy, including for carbon-black materials that near-infrared systems routinely miss. That level of performance does not just improve throughput. It changes the economics of entire material categories.

The renewed invitation suggests that NAFRA sees this technology as more than a technical achievement. It is something the industry should understand because it addresses one of the most expensive and persistent challenges recyclers face. For operators working with thin margins and rising compliance costs, the ability to quickly and accurately identify flame-retardant plastics is not incremental. It is transformative.

Unlocking Value That Has Been Lost for Decades

Most recyclers do not dispose of flame-retardant plastics because they want to. They do it because they cannot certify the output. Without reliable identification, these materials cannot enter higher-value streams. They are treated as risk, not opportunity. SMX's system changes that dynamic. By assigning identity at the molecular level and carrying that identity through a digital passport, recyclers gain access to the data required to classify materials with confidence and match them with buyers who need verified input.

This does more than reduce waste. It restores value that has been locked out of the circular economy. When a material can be certified, it can be resold. When it can be resold, it supports additional recovery capacity. When recovery capacity increases, circularity becomes more than a policy goal. It becomes a financial advantage. SMX's accuracy results show that flame-retardant plastics, previously considered too complex to manage efficiently, can be reintroduced into circulation under controlled, verifiable conditions.

NAFRA bringing SMX back into a public-facing industry program broadcasts that reality. It tells recyclers that a solution exists, that it works at the speeds they operate, and that the technology has been validated by the same organizations that shape compliance standards. The message is not that adoption has arrived. The message is that the conversation has entered the stage where recyclers should be paying attention.

The Beginning of a New Operational Baseline

For years, recyclers have relied on patchwork detection systems, manual sorting, and conservative disposal rules that prioritize safety over recovery. These processes were necessary because no scalable alternative existed. SMX introduces a different baseline. Identity is embedded, not inferred. Verification is instantaneous, not approximate. Sorting becomes systematic, not interpretive. This creates a new foundation for how downstream operators can plan, invest, and grow.

The renewed engagement from NAFRA suggests that this baseline may become part of a larger structural shift. When industry leadership bodies begin showcasing a technology, it signals to recyclers that the design of future workflows is changing. Systems built around guesswork are giving way to systems built around precision. Recyclers who adapt early often secure the strongest economic and strategic positions because they understand emerging standards before they become requirements.

Today's invitation brings SMX into that early awareness cycle. It positions the company as part of the next chapter in how recyclers manage flame-retardant materials, comply with evolving policies, and capture value that used to slip through their facilities. For recyclers, this moment should read clearly. Industrial-strength traceability is no longer theoretical. It is taking shape, and the industry leaders are bringing it forward.

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

This communication contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the Company's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts, events, or circumstances that SMX expects, believes, or anticipates will or may occur in the future, including statements relating to the Company's business strategy, financial position, future operations, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans, and objectives of management, as well as statements regarding the Company's liquidity position, capital needs, anticipated financing timelines, expected dilution, future share issuances, the anticipated use of proceeds, expected performance of the amended financing agreement, market conditions, adoption of the Company's technology, commercial pipeline, regulatory approvals, industry trends, competitive position, and any assumptions underlying the foregoing, are forward-looking statements.

Forward-looking statements are based on the Company's current expectations and assumptions regarding future events and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties, and factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks relating to: the Company's ability to successfully execute its operating plans; the Company's ability to obtain additional financing on acceptable terms or at all; the Company's ability to maintain compliance with Nasdaq listing standards; market conditions and volatility in the trading price of the Company's ordinary shares; dilution that may result from the Company's existing financing arrangements; the Company's ability to access capital under the standby equity purchase agreement and related amendments; the timing and occurrence of any closings under such agreements; the Company's expectations regarding its financial runway and future capital needs; risks associated with the Company's ability to scale its technology, secure customer adoption, or convert pilot programs into commercial deployments; risks relating to supply chain conditions and global economic trends; the Company's dependence on key personnel; the Company's ability to maintain intellectual property protection and defend against infringement claims; changes in applicable laws and regulations; general economic, political, and market conditions; risks relating to digital asset markets and the Company's potential future acquisition or holding of digital assets; and other factors detailed from time to time in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F and its subsequent reports filed with the SEC.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made and are not guarantees of future performance. The Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated due to various risks and uncertainties, and all forward-looking statements contained herein are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

EMAIL: info@securitymattersltd.com

SOURCE: SMX (Security Matters) Public Limited

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

FAQ

What did SMX announce at NAFRA on December 10, 2025 regarding recyclers?

SMX's return to NAFRA highlights its industrial traceability tech and industry interest in its sorting solution.

How accurate is SMX's sorting technology (NASDAQ:SMX) as of 2025?

SMX demonstrated 99%–100% accuracy at industrial speed, including for carbon-black materials.

What does SMX's technology mean for flame-retardant plastics and recyclers?

It enables molecular identification and a digital passport so flame-retardant plastics can be certified and resold.

Does NAFRA's engagement mean SMX adoption is widespread for recyclers?

No; NAFRA's engagement signals industry validation, but the announcement notes adoption has not yet arrived.

How could SMX's technology affect circular economy value chains for plastics?

By certifying materials, SMX's system could restore previously lost value and expand recovery capacity.