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The digital watermarks initiative of AIM - European Brands Associati- on representing brand manufacturers in Europe, HolyGrail 2.0 aims at smart packaging recycling to drive a truly cir- cular economy.
This technology is expected to revo- lutionize the sorting of packaging wa- ste and the quality of recycling. Being one of the leading global providers of printing inks for packaging applications and labels, Siegwerk joined the league of more than 85 companies and orga- nizations from the complete packaging value chain which are part of HolyGrail 2.0. This new technology works like a digital passport for packaging.
Digital watermarks are of the size of a postage stamp and carry a wide ran- ge of information which are impercep- tible to the human eye but can be read by cameras. It encrypts information like the manufacturer, Stock Keeping Unit (SKU), type of plastics used and com- position for multilayer objects, food vs. non-food usage, etc which are used along the entire packaging value chain
– from producer to recycler; and ulti- mately helping to improve consumer engagement, supply chain visibility and retail operations.
Digital watermarks are of the size of a postage stamp and carry a wide range of information which are imperceptible to the human eye but can be read by cameras
Siegwerk will contribute its expertise on packaging circularity as well as on sustainable inks and varnishes and the printing process to HolyGrail 2.0.
“We are very proud to be a member
of this ambitious initiative, joining re- nowned companies such as The Coca- Cola Company, Kelloggs, Rewe Group and Tetra Pak. It perfectly fits with a key element of our Circular Economy objectives: targeting collection and re- cycling of all packaging. We are convin- ced that we need to transform the indus- try away from a linear economy towards a Circular Economy model. It’s critical to embrace digital and smart ways to achie- ve this,” says Alina Marm, Head of Circu- lar Economy Hub at Siegwerk.
HolyGrail 2.0 is the next phase of the HolyGrail initiative, which was started by the consumer goods manufacturer Procter & Gamble and was completed under the Ellen MacArthur Foundation between 2016 and 2019. It will launch an industrial pilot in order to prove the viability of digital watermarks techno- logies for more accurate sorting of pa- ckaging and higher-quality recycling. In addition, it will establish specifications for embedding watermarking codes into plastic molds as well as specifica- tions for sorting equipment.
INGEDIENTS PROCESSING & P
ACKAGING
The digital passport for packaging
Siegwerk Factory
(Source: Siegwerk)
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