Added: Jan 04, 2023
Last edited: Mar 01, 2023
The Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0 – driven by AIM - European Brands Association and powered by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste – is a pilot project with the objective to prove the technical viability of digital watermarks for accurate sorting of packaging waste as well as the economic viability of the business case at large scale. HolyGrail 2.0 emerged from the pioneering HolyGrail project, which was funded by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation from 2016 to 2019 and examined a number of approaches to improve recycling along the packaging value chain. Digital watermarks; hidden in the colour print on packaging, are invisible to the human eye and work in the same way as a barcode to facilitate waste sorting and maximize recycling rates.
Customers struggle to figure out which items can be recycled while sorting rubbish at home. Machines in sorting plants can have the same problem. This prevents many countries from achieving the recycling rates they would like.
"Invisible barcode" technology is being piloted by a consortium of over 120 of the world's biggest brands, including Procter & Gamble, Nestle, Unilever and PepsiCo, who were brought together by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
US-based company Digimarc developed these digital watermark codes, which are integrated into existing print files via software, meaning companies do not need special colours or printing methods. The invisible codes are no bigger than a stamp and can cover the entire surface of the packaging without spoiling the actual packaging design. The code is then captured by high-resolution cameras at waste sorting plants; based on the information it contains, the plant can then sort packaging waste into the respective material streams more effectively than is currently the case.
The first prototype for capturing DW codes is now being tested in Copenhagen.
Design for recycling
Cross-industry projects, pilots
Joint industry ventures, projects, pilots
Sensors, monitoring systems
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