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The better sorting of packaging, at scale, to improve recycling rates can be a very complicated task. That’s why Milliken is a proud member of the Digital Watermarks Project, a large-scale initiative testing barcodes imperceptible to the human eye, but detectable with a camera for computing devices, that add a ‘digital recycling passport’ to packaging.

Once scanned, it can help direct a package to the appropriate recycling process for its best next life. This initiative is advancing to a semi-industrial scale in Europe.

HolyGrail 2.0 is the next iteration of project overseen by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. HolyGrail 1.0, brought together brand owners, retailers, recyclers, packaging producers, and sorting technology providers from across the plastics value chain to investigate ways to improve the sorting of post-consumer plastics.

As a result of HolyGrail 1.0, digital watermarks were found to be the most promising smart sorting technology, and a basic proof-of-concept was developed. HolyGrail 2.0, facilitated by AIM, the European Brands Association, will take this initiative to the next stage by validating the concept and the technology on a semi-industrial scale.

We joined the Digital Watermarks Initiative as part of our quest to transform the impact that plastics have on the environment for the better.