Digital watermarking technologies for food and pharmaceutical packaging

Picture Digimarc website

Digimarc, a pioneer in digital watermarking technologies (digital watermarking that consists of embedding a data sample in an audio, image or film file), and Wipak, a provider of flexible packaging solutions for global markets, have announced a strategic partnership to help retailers and global brands implement an eco-friendly product packaging strategy. By combining Digimarc's digital watermarking and Wipak's printed film technology, the companies will help food, medical device and pharmaceutical companies achieve their sustainability and profitability goals through innovative packaging that advances the fight against plastic pollution and accelerates the path to net zero.

Environmentally friendly packaging goes beyond being environmentally friendly. It is packaging that remains functional to minimize environmental impact. Through our partnership with Digimarc, our customers not only receive packaging made from responsibly sourced materials, but also packaging designed for recycling and reuse, contributing to our goal of a circular economy. Digimarc represents a revolution in the sorting and recycling of plastic waste, enabling companies to meet ever-increasing stakeholder demands for action on sustainability, while complying with regulatory requirements such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) in Europe,

said Karri Koskela, Chief Executive Officer of Wipak.

Digimarc works by linking covert digital watermarks (used to deterministically identify plastic packaging at any desired level of granularity) applied to plastic packaging with an extensible cloud-based repository of product attributes, including packaging composition, food or non-food grade plastic, product variant, brand, SKU and more. By integrating Digimarc's digital watermarks into Wipak's printed films, this revolutionary technology overcomes the limitations of current optical sorting technologies, significantly improving the quality and quantity of recycled materials while revealing invaluable and never-before-seen post-purchase product journey data.

If we want manufacturers to buy recyclate instead of continuing to use virgin plastic, we need to improve the quality and quantity of plastic output from recycling facilities and provide a real opportunity for closed-loop recycling. Together with Wipak, we are addressing this need - helping global brands and manufacturers take action with the sustainable packaging and innovative technology needed to drive environmental change, increase profitability and unlock an immensely valuable source of new data,

said Riley McCormack, president and CEO of Digimarc.

Picture Digimarc website

Così come il codice universale del prodotto (UPC) o il numero europeo dell'articolo (EAN) hanno rivoluzionato le operazioni di vendita al dettaglio generando nuovi e preziosi dati sugli acquisti, Digimarc Recycle rivoluzionerà il riciclo della plastica. Oltre ad automatizzare l'identificazione della raccolta e della selezione degli imballaggi presso gli impianti di recupero dei materiali (MRF) e quelli di riciclo di plastica (PRF), la digital watermarking di Digimarc aggiunge valore all'intero ciclo di vita del prodotto per migliorare la redditività e informare su risultati più intelligenti. Una volta applicate, le filigrane digitali supportano l'autenticazione dei prodotti, l'ispezione della produzione e della filiera, i programmi di fidelizzazione dei clienti, le casse dei negozi di nuova generazione e altre applicazioni aziendali.
A differenza di altri supporti di dati, che non possono essere disattivati una volta installati, le filigrane digitali Digimarc consentono alle aziende di anticipare le esigenze future, sfruttando i vantaggi di un aggiornamento del packaging.