Belgium Launches Large-Scale HolyGrail 2030 Digital Watermark Sorting Pilot, Boosting Flexible Food Packaging Recycling Rate to 95%

On July 17, 2026, Belgian environmental authority Fost Plus rolled out large-scale testing of digital watermark sorting technology initiated by the European HolyGrail 2030 Circular Packaging Alliance, making Belgium the world’s first country to realize fully automatic accurate classification of food flexible packaging.

Conventional recycling equipment cannot separate food-contact plastic films from non-food plastic materials, so recycled plastic pellets fail to meet food-grade standards for repackaging. The new visual recognition system reads invisible digital marks embedded on packaging surfaces to sort snack bags, meat composite films, plastic casings and other food flexible packaging accurately, achieving a 95% sorting pass rate. All recycled plastic meets food contact requirements.

This technology complies with the mandatory 2030 PPWR rule requiring minimum 10% recycled plastic content in food plastic packaging. Test data proves digital watermark technology cuts food packaging landfill waste by 62%. Austria, Germany and France plan full nationwide rollout in 2027.

For packaging manufacturers, only one extra invisible watermark printing procedure is needed without substrate replacement, forming a low-cost path to circular certification. Flexible packaging producers worldwide are contacting equipment suppliers for production line renovation plans.