Packaging and paper group Mondi is to conduct full-scale industrial trials to prove digital watermarking could be viable for sorting waste at scale.
The watermarks could mean the sorting of dry recyclables and other items could be carried out more effectively and more efficiently.
The watermark shown on this packaging in light blue is not usually visible
Digital watermarks are imperceptible codes, the size of a postage stamp, covering the surface of consumer goods packaging and encoding a wide range of attributes.
Mondi has joined forces with the Association des Industries de Marque (AIM), the European Brands Association representing manufacturers of branded consumer goods in Europe, and other partners across the value chain to take part in a pilot initiative dubbed HolyGrail 2.0.
Ellen MacArthur
Mondi was a founding member of the original Pioneer Project HolyGrail, which was set up by the Ellen MacArthur foundation in late 2016. The project aimed to enable higher recycling rates for packaging in the EU.
Graeme Smith, head of product sustainability for flexible packaging and engineered materials at Mondi, said: “As members of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy, we were part of the initial team to bring the Pioneer Project, HolyGrail, to life.
“At Mondi, we believe packaging should be sustainable by design and we see the need to improve the sorting and separation of packaging waste as part of a circular economy.
“Digital watermarks have the potential to make this a reality. Improved recycling will increase the value of packaging waste, driving higher collection rates and making it a valuable commercial resource for the future.”
Watermarks
Mondi says the postage stamp sized watermarks, invisible to the naked eye, will make it possible to sort the material into specific waste streams.
“We see the need to improve the sorting and separation of packaging waste as part of a circular economy”
Conventional sensor technologies such as near infrared spectroscopy are unable to identify multi-material packaging reliably, so they can end up as contaminants when recycling mono-materials, Mondi says.
With digital watermarking technology, Mondi says, it becomes possible to separate materials more accurately and generate new waste stream.
Once packaging enters a waste sorting facility, the digital watermark can be detected and encoded by a standard high-resolution camera on the sorting line, which can then sort the packaging in corresponding streams based on the transferred attributes.
Pioneer Projects
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Pioneer Projects bring together stakeholders from across the plastics value chain to address systemic challenges.
Mondi says more than 85 partners across the value chain are working together to refine and commercialise the HolyGrail concept, with Mondi continuing its active role in trialling the technology.
Since it was set up in 2016, the HolyGrail project has focused on compiling an overview of the existing technology, ensuring the discussion has input from the entire value chain and conducting real tests and small-scale pilots with the most promising coding technologies to establish a proof of concept.
Further information
Project HolyGrail
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Source: letsrecycle.com Plastic
