Digimarc Recycle Earns Industrial Scale Validation in HolyGrail 2.0 Trials

Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC), the global leader in digital watermarking, has been recognized for its pivotal role in the world’s first commercial-scale validation of digital watermarks’ ability to revolutionize plastic recycling. As part of the HolyGrail 2.0 Digital Watermarks Initiative, industrial trials at the Hündgen Entsorgung material recovery facility (MRF) in Swisttal, Germany, confirmed that Digimarc’s technology enables highly accurate, automated sorting of post-consumer plastic packaging under real-world conditions.

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste highlighted the significance of the results, stating: “The trial confirms the remarkable potential of digital watermarks for accurately sorting post-consumer rigid household packaging.” The Alliance further noted the results prove the technology’s “readiness for full commercial deployment.”

Key Results: Proven SKU-Level Accuracy and High-Speed Sorting at Scale

In the latest results from the HolyGrail 2.0 Digital Watermarks Initiative—driven by AIM and powered by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW)—industrial-scale trials demonstrated that digital watermarking can deliver high-speed, high-accuracy sortation with unprecedented granularity at the SKU level. Over 100 days, the system recorded 5.66 million detections across 5,949 unique SKUs, with an average of 56,000 items detected daily. Detection accuracy was consistently above 90%, which is exceptional considering the challenging real-world conditions at the plant, such as surface contamination and overlapping materials.

Beyond the strong sortation performance, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste highlighted the SKU-level precision made possible by Digimarc technology as a key milestone toward scalable, intelligent sortation. As they noted, “The trials demonstrated that Digimarc digital watermarking technology can facilitate traceability of packaging waste at the SKU level, providing a pathway to compliance with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).”

“This milestone isn’t just about increasing the quality and quantity of plastic recyclates, it’s about delivering actionable data that benefits everyone in the value chain,” said Riley McCormack, CEO of Digimarc. “We’re empowering stakeholders—from regulators to recyclers to brands—with data they’ve never had access to before—data that can transform packaging design, boost recovery rates, and drive smarter, more sustainable decisions across the entire value chain.”

Ready for Commercial Deployment

Over the past few years, Digimarc has continued to make advances in applying Digimarc digital watermarks to packaging and in performing reliable detection. With the success of the HolyGrail 2.0 trials and proven SKU-level accuracy in high-speed sorting, Digimarc is excited to support the early adopter program launching in Belgium (focused on flexible PP food packaging), along with additional initiatives driving broader market adoption under HolyGrail 2030 – Circular Packaging.

About HolyGrail 2.0

Led by AIM – the European Brands Association and powered by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, HolyGrail 2.0 demonstrates the technical and economic viability of digital watermarking at scale. These imperceptible codes embedded in packaging enable precise, high-speed sorting—resulting in better recyclate and real-world impact across the packaging value chain.

About Digimarc

Digimarc Corporation (NASDAQ: DMRC) is the pioneer and global leader in digital watermarking. For nearly 30 years, Digimarc has enabled the secure identification and authentication of physical and digital items—from consumer goods to global currency. The company is recognized on the Fortune 2023 Change the World list and as a Fast Company World Changing Ideas finalist.

Learn more at www.digimarc.com.

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