The highly anticipated validation results following a semi-industrial testing that mimicked real-life conditions of the prototype detection unit for digital watermarks proved to be excellent indeed. The successful validation was conducted by The Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0, driven by AIM - European Brands Association and the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. It involved numerous market participants from our industry. On March 30, the aggregated results were announced. Now we can present the great outcomes achieved individually by PACCOR.
The results show that digital watermarking technology allows more specific sorting of packaging waste on an industrial scale, e.g., by extracting separate food waste streams and other new PCR streams that do not exist today (e.g., for cosmetic or detergent applications). This provides an opportunity to effectively overcome the limitations of current near-infrared (NIR) sorting technologies. Details on the performance of this validation can be found here.
“We have always been convinced that digital watermarking technology can change the world. Now it's proven. Waste reduction through recycling of valuable materials is feasible,” explains Nicolas Lorenz, CCO of PACCOR. “PACCOR strongly believes that digitalization is the way forward for the circular economy,” says Lorenz.
PACCOR participated in the test series with ten different products. The black, silver, and transparent PET trays and our PS/PET DuoSmart® cups showed detection rates of 100% (average total value of the tested products of all participants at 99%) and ejection rates of 97-100% (average total value of the tested products of all participants at 95%). Our PET drinking cups were only slightly below these values.
“PACCOR is the clear favorite in digital watermarking. Our main competitors only achieved a maximum of 90% sorting efficiency with their plastic cups with paper banderoles, while we achieved almost 100%. In addition, their product only had the code printed on the outside, while ours also had it on the plastic inlet,” concludes Lorenz.
