TECHNOLOGY | ANTICOUNTERFEITING
demonstrated that packages could be reliably sorted using codes (for material type or brand) in the markers.
Above: Sorting systems company Pellenc ST sees digital marking helping to improve recyclate quality
Right: Representation of a HolyGrail digital watermark on a package (the actual watermark is invisible to the eye)
the Dotz cloud platform can accommodate tracking of recycled products. The fact that Dotz can tailor the heat-resistant marker’s properties to specific customer needs is also seen as a plus — some markers can be decomposed after several recycling cycles while others remain in the material after recycling for hundreds and even thousands of cycles, according to Brookes. Aside from detecting recycled content, markers have also been evaluated as a means to sort material within recycling streams. Polysecure’s Tracer-Based Sorting (TBS) technology, for example, was first demonstrated in a project to separate PVC with glass fibre-reinforcement from PVC without glass fibre. Since then, Polysecure has developed new tracers that enable TBS to work (with some modification) using conventional NIR sorters. Polysecure’s Moesslein says new tracer materials have since been developed and validated that enable sorting of plastic packaging material into 20 to 40 pre-defined material fractions to create highly specified recyclate. The company now has two TBS options: TBS light and TBS complete technology. He says that strategic feasibility studies with leading brands and utilities are underway. A related technology using Polysecure’s markers printed on packaging labels to improve sorting of post-consumer recyclate was commenced in Germany in 2017 in collaboration with Pforz- heim University, KIT Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Werner & Mertz, and Der Grüne Punkt – Duales System Deutschland. The MaReK project (marker-based sorting and recycling system for plastic packaging)
GE 58 COMPOUNDING WORLD | December 2020 : H O LYGRAIL
www.compoundingworld.com
Sorting improvements Another label-based technology for sorting recyclate is being evaluated in the much-publicised HolyGrail 2.0 project, which is using digital watermarking technology from Digimarc as an invisible barcode in a label (either an in-mould label or sleeve) or moulded onto the part surface. The industry project is being facilitated by AIM, the European Brands Association, which includes global brands such as P&G (which pioneered the technology) and PepsiCo. Digimarc said in Septem- ber that it had delivered its technology for sorting using the digital watermarks to sorting equipment companies Tomra Sorting Solutions and Pellenc ST. Pellenc ST co-founder and R&D Manager Antoine Bourley says the company sees the technology as a potential solution to improve plastic recycling quality. “Pellenc ST is convinced that marker technology is an interesting opportu- nity to sort food packaging from non-food applica- tions. Our cooperation with Digimarc to assess the potential of the technical solution in sorting plant conditions is a unique chance to accelerate the potential market penetration,” he says. UK-based Nextek works with clients to develop
plastics recycling solutions and one of their projects is the consortium-based NextLooPP for polypropylene packaging. The group’s PRISM technology (which stands for Plastic Packaging Recycling using Intelligent Separation technologies for Materials) uses luminescent markers applied to packaging labels to enable sorting. Future legislation and the ongoing push by
brandowners to use more PCR is expected by some to create a need for certifying PCR content. Identifying markers in the material could possibly fill this need, although cost is a question. Circular- ise, based in The Netherlands, uses blockchain and other technologies to enable transparency in the plastics supply chain (you can learn more about the use of blockchain in industry supply chains HERE). The company works with organisations such as
Covestro, Domo and others to trace materials and communicate information about them to customers and regulators.
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IMAGE: PELLENC ST
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