German retailer Netto: thousands of store brand food and beverage products now Digimarc Recycle ready
German retailer Netto Marken-Discount reports that its private labeled food and beverage products are now digitised using Digimarc technology, including incorporating covert Digimarc digital watermarks into the packaging.
“It is exciting to partner with retailers like Netto that are setting the example for the rest of the industry and leading the way for a circular economy,” says Digimarc CEO Riley McCormack.
“More sustainable packaging is becoming a business imperative, and ourdigital watermarks are transforming recycling as a validated way to improve circularity dramatically.”
“We initially cooperated with Digimarc to optimise our checkout by digitising our private label food and beverage products with its technology,” says Christina Stylianou, Netto Corporate Spokesperson.
“Netto is now also well positioned to adopt Digimarc Recycle by leveraging the same digital watermarking technology that makes the checkout easier and more efficient. We are ready and excited for Digimarc Recycle to come to Germany in the near future.”
Since 2018, Netto Marken-Discount has been the first and only retailer in Germany to integrate Digimarc's digital watermarks on the packaging of its private label food range.
“The fact that Digimarc digital watermarks didn’t obscure our branding and therefore enhanced packaging was another important factor in selecting Digimarc as a long-term partner,” says Stylianou.
“We are committed to less plastic packaging, more recycling, and more responsibility. Digimarc is a valued partner in supporting us in achieving our sustainability goals as we look to the future.”
By linking covert digital watermarks (used to deterministically identify plastic packaging to any desired level of granularity) with an extensible cloud-based repository of product attributes (such as brand, SKU, product variant, packaging composition, food/non-food use, etc.), Digimarc Recycle overcomes the limitations of today’s optical sorting technologies.
Moreover, the same information used to drive this sortation in facilities can provide product specific and location-based disposal instructions via a brand owned direct to consumer digital communication channel accessed via on-pack watermarks or QR codes.
In addition to providing the information necessary to power advanced sortation at recycling facilities, Digimarc Recycle captures and provides a holistic view of the post-purchase product journey.
It is expected to launch soon in France and Canada, with conversations ongoing in other countries around the globe. In addition, Digimarc reports that its product digitisation technology has recently been chosen to guard the integrity of a national deposit return system (DRS).
Continue reading…