{"id":23815,"date":"2020-09-22T11:00:11","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T09:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.specpage.com\/?p=23815"},"modified":"2020-09-22T11:46:28","modified_gmt":"2020-09-22T09:46:28","slug":"intelligent-packaging-holy-grail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.specpage.com\/intelligent-packaging-holy-grail\/","title":{"rendered":"Intelligent packaging could be the Holy Grail for innovations towards the environment"},"content":{"rendered":"

There is a new environmental initiative that has hit the Food & Beverage industry<\/a> of the EU, and its name is Holy Grail 2.0<\/strong>. Currently in September 2020, there are 85+ brands that have pledged to implement the Holy Grail project, some of which include<\/a> F&B giants Pepsico, Henkel, Heineken, and Dr. Oetker.<\/p>\n

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Picture Source: https:\/\/packagingeurope.com\/pioneering-sorting-technology-holygrail-project-moves-toward\/<\/p><\/div>\n

What is Holy Grail 2.0? Let\u2019s dive in to learn more.<\/strong><\/p>\n

About the project<\/h2>\n

Facilitated by the European Brands Association (AIM), the Holy Grail 2.0 is a pioneer project that focuses on improving recycling standards and practices. The project\u2019s predecessor is the HolyGrail which was a research initiative conducted between 2016-2019 that was aimed at determining which methods could be used to carry out this goal. Now, in 2020, the commission has decided upon the use of \u201cdigital watermarks\u201d to improve the accuracy of package sorting in recycling facilities \u2013 thus sparking the birth of Holy Grail 2.0.<\/p>\n

In regards to the project, AIM\u2019s director Michelle Gibbons<\/a> said, \u201cThe three ingredients here are innovation, sustainability and digital, combined to achieve the objective of the Green Deal<\/a> towards a clean, circular and climate neutral economy.\u201d<\/p>\n

What are digital watermarks and why are they important?<\/h2>\n

The problem<\/h3>\n

Before we can understand what digital watermarks are, it is perhaps better to understand what the initial problem was for this test case. Four years ago, when the HolyGrail initiative was first conceptualized, it was clear to those leading the commission that poor recycling of packages<\/a> was contributing significantly to growing environmental concerns.<\/p>\n

Beyond consumer influence, product packaging that was brought to sorting facilities after consumers had recycled, was not being sorted correctly so that many pieces had to be discarded. As this was counterproductive to the whole purpose of recycling, scientists and producers had to find a solution. The answer? Digital watermarks.<\/p>\n

The solution<\/h3>\n

Digital watermarks are codes the size of postage stamps embedded in the product packaging that can be scanned upon arrival to the sorting facility. These codes are invisible and exist beneath the \u201clayer\u201d that consumers see on the shelf.<\/p>\n

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Picture Source: https:\/\/www.ptonline.com\/blog\/post\/new-product-id-technologies-for-industry-retail-recycling<\/p><\/div>\n

The goal is that when the package arrives in the facility after being recycled by consumers and picked up by garbage collectors, these watermarks will be able to tell a specific story about its particular package.<\/p>\n

This \u201cstory\u201d includes details such as the package\u2019s<\/a>:<\/p>\n