plastic packaging
Achieving a circular economy in packaging means more than increasing the amount of recycled plastic and limiting the amount of virgin resin used by food and beverage manufacturers.
It also means ensuring that post-consumer plastic packaging waste is recycled correctly. Current sorting systems, however, along with consumer confusion over what is recyclable and what is not, act as barriers to this.
According to Plastics Recyclers Europe, only 42% of plastic packaging waste is recycled in Europe.
In an effort to change these statistics, the European Brands Association (AIM) – a lobby group representing brand makers across the bloc – is facilitating a pilot project centered on digital watermarking technology.
More than 88 companies have partnered with AIM on the initiative, including AbInbev, Arla Foods, The Coca-Cola Company, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, General Mills, Kellogg, The Kraft Heinz Company, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, Tetra Pak and Unilever. Among suppliers of inputs and packaging, companies such as Avery Dennison, All4Labels, Alpla, Amcor, Braskem, Dow, Henkel and Tetra Pak, among others, are part of the alliance.
“It is amazing to see so much enthusiasm across the industry and to be able to unite such knowledge from across the packaging value chain, from brand owners and retailers to converters, EPR schemes, waste management systems, recyclers and more” , says Michelle Gibbons, Director General of AIM. “Collaboration is the way forward to achieve circular economy goals,” she adds.
Consumer goods packaging
Digital watermarks are inconspicuous codes and are the size of a postage stamp on the surface of consumer goods packaging. Watermarks can contain a wide range of information about a product. This can include the manufacturer, SKU, type of plastic used and composition for multi-layer objects, and whether the product falls into the food or non-food category.
The partnership hopes that when a digitally watermarked package enters a sorting facility, it can be detected and decoded by a high-resolution camera. The package would then be classified according to its attributes and directed to the correct location.
“This would result in better and more accurate sorting flows and, consequently, higher quality recycles, benefiting the entire packaging value chain,” notes AIM.
“Alongside this 'digital recycling passport', digital watermarks also have the potential to be used in other areas such as consumer engagement, supply chain visibility and retail operations,” the Association says in a note. .
Digital watermarks were initially tested in the Ellen MacArthur Foundations' New Plastics Economy program. The recently launched pilot project, titled HolyGrail 2.0, aims to achieve scale.
First, the technology will be validated in a semi-industrial scale test classification facility. Packaging and technology providers will work with brand owners and retailers to modify their packaging with digital watermarks.
Then the partnership aims to upgrade for industrial testing. This would involve introducing digital watermarked packaging from brand owners and retailers into national test markets.
Innovation
“The three main ingredients here are innovation, sustainability and digital, combined to achieve the goal of the Green Deal (Green Deal) towards a clean, circular and neutral economy,” said AIM's Gibbons.
Four brand owners chose to join the project's leadership group: Nestlé, P&G, Danone and PepsiCo.
About HolyGrail 2.0, PepsiCo Europe CEO Silviu Popovici says that “Effective waste separation is a barrier to wider recycling of packaging materials in Europe. This industry-wide challenge can only be solved by working together for a system-wide solution.” “The development of digital watermarks for packaging is an excellent example of how collective action and technology can promote a circular economy,” he believes.
Source: https://www.embalagemmarca.com.br/2020/09/embalagem-inteligente-ajuda-a-separar-plasticos-para-reciclagem/
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