France to be the European Pilot Market for Digimarc Recycle

In March 2022’s edition of Authentication & Brand News™, a technical feature looked at how digital watermark specialist Digimarc was working on invisible watermarks that could increase plastic recycling. The technology from Digimarc is amongst a basket of innovations that sit at the overlap between authentication and sustainability – in this case giving plastic packaging a ‘voice’.

The watermarks are in the form of invisible unique barcodes that are about the size of a postage stamp and are repeated across the entire surface of the packaging to create a tile effect that is easy to detect and scan. The codes are either integrated within the packaging label artwork (by means of subtle changes made to the artwork pixels) or embossed into the mould that forms the plastic container.

The codes can carry a wide range of information on the manufacturer, stockkeeping unit (SKU), type and composition of plastic used, and whether food or non-food was contained in the packaging.

The watermarks are a key part of a huge initiative called HolyGrail 2.0, which is driven by the European Brands Association and backed by dozens of global brands, including Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Unilever.

Digimarc has now announced an expansion of the HolyGrail 2.0 Initiative. Building on successful semi-industrial trials, stakeholders across the packaging value chain have selected France as the European pilot market for Digimarc Recycle. All operators in France have been invited to participate, marking an expansion in activities that were previously limited to HolyGrail 2.0 members.

The idea behind Digimarc Recycle is that by linking covert digital watermarks (used to deterministically identify plastic packaging to any desired level of granularity) with an extensible cloud-based repository of product attributes (such as the afore-mentioned brand, SKU, product variant, packaging composition and food/ non-food use), it’s possible to overcome the limitations of today’s optical sorting technologies.

Moreover, the same information used to drive this advanced sorting in facilities can be used to provide product-specific and location-based disposal instructions via a brand-owned direct-to-consumer digital communication channel accessed via on- pack watermarks or QR codes.

In addition to providing the information necessary to power advanced sorting both at collection as well as in facilities, Digimarc Recycle captures and provides a holistic view of the post-purchase product journey, benefitting stakeholders across the value chain. Producer responsibility organisations can design and implement more meaningful, and more accurate Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes, facility operators can unlock operational efficiencies and insights, and brand owners and retailers can access data to power design-for-recyclability improvements, packaging-usage reductions, consumer behaviour insights and overall operational gains, says the company.

‘As the semi-industrial trials clearly demonstrated last year, digital watermarking technology has the power to transform recycling,’ commented Digimarc CEO Riley McCormack. ‘We could not be more thrilled to support our partners in France as they progress in their journey to achieving a more circular economy.’ 

Last year, the HolyGrail 2.0 project announced results from European trials that showed that Digimarc’s technology achieved a 99% average detection rate across all tested categories of plastic packaging.

The effectiveness of Digimarc Recycle has also been validated in Canada, with a 99% detection rate in a pilot with the Circular Plastics Taskforce (CPT). CPT aims to implement Digimarc Recycle in Canadian facilities in 2023 to enable the separation of flexibles by attributes, allowing the creation of new end-markets.

‘Momentum is building globally,’ McCormack explained. ‘Stakeholders – particularly consumers and governments – are no longer willing to accept inaction. With regulation like the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation in the EU on the horizon, Digimarc can support companies with the innovation they need to comply, demonstrate leadership, and foster a more sustainable future.’