HolyGrail 2.0 – towards better sorting and recycling in the EU

The Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail2.0 – facilitated by AIM, the European Brands Association – is a pilot project with the objective to prove the viability of digital watermarking technologies for accurate sorting and consequently higher-quality recycling.

Digital watermarks are imperceptible codes, the size of a postage stamp, covering the surface of a consumer goods packaging and carrying a wide range of attributes. The aim is that once the packaging has entered into a waste sorting facility, the digital watermark can be detected and decoded by a standard high resolution camera on the sorting line, which then – based on the transferred attributes (e.g. food vs. non-food) – is able to sort the packaging in corresponding streams. This would result in better and more accurate sorting streams, thus consequently in higher-quality recyclates.

Over the next two years, Constantia Flexibles as part of the leadership team, together with over 85 companies and organizations from the entire value chain, will work to assess whether this pioneering digital technology can enable better sorting and higher-quality recycling for packaging in the EU.

For more information have a look here