All4Labels becomes member of the Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0
Effective September, All4Labels joins forces with the HolyGrail 2.0 initiative to drive circular economy goals. The initiative under the auspices of AIM, the European Brands Association, has more than 85 participating companies and organisations from the complete packaging value chain. The goal is to assess whether digital watermarks can enable better sorting and higher-quality recycling rates for packaging in the EU. As an active member, All4Labels contributes in the working group “design guideline” to drive the project.
Andreas Bertram, President Central Europe of All4Labels: “The better the separation of packaging waste, the better the packaging can be put into the right cycle. We also see the potential especially in the fact that even small design adaptations in the artwork can guarantee the functionality of the sorting process.”
One of the most pressing challenges in achieving a circular economy for packaging is to better sort post-consumer waste by accurately identifying packaging, resulting in more efficient and higher-quality recycling. Digital watermarks may have the potential to revolutionize the way packaging is sorted in the waste management system, as it opens new possibilities that are currently not feasible with existing technologies.
About All4Labels
All4Labels – Global Packaging Group is one of the world’s leading label companies and pioneer in digital printing solutions. It serves local and multinational companies in different industries, offering the most innovative solutions of the sector in a one-stop-shop concept for pressure sensitive, shrink sleeve and security labels as well as flexible solutions. All4Labels sets its footprints in the key growth area of its customers, being a strong partner through a global network of 29 production site and more than 3,000 employees.
About Digital Watermarks Initiative – HolyGrail 2.0
The Digital Watermarks Initiative HolyGrail 2.0 – facilitated by AIM, the European Brands Association, as the next iteration of the initial HolyGrail project under the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2016-2019) – is a pilot project with the objective to prove the viability of digital watermarking technologies for accurate sorting and consequently higher-quality recycling, as well as the business case at large scale. 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 benefiting the complete packaging value chain.
About AIM
AIM is the European Brands Association representing brand manufacturers in Europe on key issues which affect their ability to design, distribute and market their brands. AIM’s membership comprises 2500 businesses ranging from SMEs to multinationals, directly or indirectly through its corporate and national association members.