Plastic packaging allows food to travel further distances, stay longer on the shelves, and ensures that large amounts of food do not become waste. For PACCOR educating people about the value of plastic and making it easier for consumers to recycle it is one of its main missions. For this reason, PACCOR is introducing a technical solution that will provide all participants in the value chain with worldwide access to PACCOR’s product data. This requires a digital watermark on the packaging in combination with PACCOR’s cloud solution. This world premiere was presented for the first time in a demo version at Fachpack in Nuremberg.
Additional information along the value chain
PACCOR Cloud Solutions (PCS) is a database which enables recycling. The company's packaging solutions with digital watermarking can be scanned, and specific product information can be read anywhere by using intelligent identification systems. Such a solution offers advantages for all stakeholders involved. Food producers can add food specific information such filling date and location, nutritional values, etc. Retailers can scan the new, full-surface watermarks faster at the cash registers. Waste management companies can differentiate between food and non-food packaging in the sorting process. End consumers who want to purchase a packaged food product can see the exact characteristics of the packaging and its content by scanning the watermark, which informs not only about the correct recycling route, but also about the food product itself. By using a specific PACCOR app much more information is being provided. In addition to packaging and product features, information on transport routes, sales prices, discounts, menu recommendations, etc. are also provided. Finally, the digital code on the packaging not only provides information about all the details of the product, but also serves to protect the economic value as it prevents counterfeiting of branded products. With the digital watermark, the origin of a product can be traced at any place and any time.
“Talking plastic packaging turns plastic waste into Talking Waste™, a valuable raw material. Currently, only about 25 % of plastic packaging is recycled. The rest ends up being incinerated and, unfortunately, some of it also ends up in the environment,” explains Nicolas Lorenz, CCO of PACCOR. “Together with Digimarc, we’ve given plastic packaging a voice – which allows us to recycle 100 % of all used plastic packaging in a closed loop recycling system. And that’s how plastic becomes intelligent and a valuable raw material.”
PACCOR will provide the ‘digital ecosystem’ to retrieve all required information. The system consists of a database, Digimarc’s watermarks, and the information retrieval. “As a first mover, we are proud to be able to present the result of hard work at Fachpack. The mobile app is a first step into this new digital ecosystem,” concludes Nicolas Lorenz.
