It is a trap for manufacturers. They push hard on sustainability initiatives such as cutting down on packaging use and costings (perhaps because they stand to profit from both of those things). They invest in environmentally friendly inks. Then counterfeits flood the market in non-renewable materials. They may use substandard materials that are difficult or costly to recycle. The whole sustainability concept collapses thus. Two kinds of product now choke the environment together, one real and one fake. This is doubly calamitous.

This is a point that nobody mentions but brand protection and the environment is one thing. It's not two separate issues. Furthermore, for a brand to protect its own reputation means that it must keep up with and extend the sustainability goals.

The Counterfeiting Problem that Matters for Environmental Teams

Counterfeits upset the balance of sustainability. Products wrongly placed in landfills rather than recycling plants. The manufacture of substandard goods and illegal acts involving dangerous materials. Electronic parts emitting phenol. Color cosmetics using illicit dyes. Food packaging made of unstable materials that splinter in your mouth when you bite into it—none of this can be safely recycled. So we burn it all or it goes into an open pit.

Now look at these quantities. One operation by Greater Manchester Police netted 1,050 tonnes of fake food. The EU took 22,000 tonnes of counterfeit goods and in a single operation before the 2025 Women's Euros event, 67,000 fake football shirts were seized. This alone represents an enormous waste amount utterly beyond recovery or recycling management system to manage effectively.

And the counterfeiting just multiplies the problem. Even if a genuine product is designed to be recycled, a counterfeit version is not. They use cheaper materials of lower health and safety standards; they violate packaging specifications not otherwise fully met by law. See this incinerator here? You cannot recycle them mixed with real products—because they contaminate the whole batch. Whole load will be refused and sent directly to waste.

Inside digital systems, we press an invisible mark on the information that passes through. It is this digital signature which identifies genuine digital products. With a silicon device plugged into their computer and some free software, anyone can make their own invisible signatures. They are surprisingly easy to produce—yet incredibly resistant to counterfeits. Once signs have been put into a web page's source file they work there by invisible means alone. There is no human intervention during the life of a signature, only passive outputs from machines. Invisible signatures are dual-purpose. Not only can they prevent counterfeit goods from entering the supply chain in the first place, they also mean less material waste. Fewer unnecessary disposals of low quality material. More savings. So while invisible signatures help prevent counterfeits by keeping them off the supply chain, they are also recycling symbols. If you plant a computer chip containing such a signature within the packaging artwork (the space is almost unlimited) and use no special materials or inks then there is very little visible change. Nor does this involve any change in process. Using this same artwork—which already meets your sustainability targets—you can mark all of your products properly. Each one that is verified as genuine means there is one more counterfeit off the market. One more piece of low-grade material in the waste stream is eliminated.

This is important from a sustainability point of view. Packaging waste is obvious. If 10% of what reaches consumers is counterfeit product, that's 10% of packaging that doesn't get recycled properly. It has to be destroyed as if it were garbage instead of being converted back into resources. Building brand protection into sustainable packaging design recaptures these entire 10 percents inside your recycling equation again!

The Material Efficiency Angle

Invisible signatures allow smart companies to design the minimum material needed for packaging while still maintaining brand security. Traditionally, you would have used visible anti-counterfeit techniques such as holograms or security threads. That meant adding on additional materials and accessories, wasting ink, changing the package design. It went against your efforts for environmental protection. Invisible signatures change that. You design packaging to meet EPR requirements and do not add any superfluous packaging. Your packaging is designed to be recyclable. You save material during production, shipping and recycling. Then you invisibly integrate the authentication. What results is thinner, lighter and more recyclable packaging that nevertheless protects you front and back. The two of you win.

The environmental impact can be seen. Lighter packaging equals lower shipping weights, for instance. A smaller carbon output from logistics operations. Lower material costs of course. EPR fees are based on weight, so lighter packaging means lower compliance costs. You end up not only protecting your brand but reducing environmental impact and operating costs all in one fell swoop.

Supply Chain Visibility Advances Sustainability

Invisible signatures generate data. Each scan is a data point. Location, timestamp, device model and certificate result. This intelligence flows to dashboards for exactly where authentic and fake goods amass.

From a sustainability perspective, you could say that this reveals supply chain leaks. If counterfeits are clustered in particular regions or sales channels, then that's likely to be your weakest link in terms of compliance with environmental standards. This means maybe unauthorized dealers are using non-complying packaging; perhaps some of your supply chain partners do not follow sustainability protocols.

This spreads out these deficiencies. With the data, you can make people who both violate brand protection rules and the environment targets of enforcement.

Conversely, when looking for clean paths with zero counterfeit detections at all, those are the distribution partners who satisfy the two brands of protection and sustainability requirements. If you identify these partnerships, you can make that your main approach to these matters—relatively secure in economic returns.

Digital Leaflets Reduce Packaging Waste

In traditional packaging, you'll find user instructions, safety warnings, ingredient lists and environmental credentials. All of these are printed on paper, all represent costs. Invisible signatures offer digital alternatives. By scanning a QR code, one can get to the content digitally. A great many businesses use digital publications; ingredient information and the material are sent up in clouds. You can also get a sustainability certificate online.

The amount of packaging materials is cut substantially. No need for a pharmaceutical bottle insert if all this information is recorded on the production line through invisible signatures—one-stop shop with each product, carrying implementations ordered and listings for its commodities. A cosmetic jar doesn't require printed warnings when they're accessed digitally. There is no need to print an extensive label on food packaging if nutrition information is the tap of a cell phone away.

The environmental benefit is multiplied. Less paper, ink and packages wasted. However, this only works with security measures as smooth and transparent as invisible signatures. It is essential that consumers trust: Does the scan actually work? Is there any point to scanning my hand over this? And invisible signatures, then, are the safety cover for digital packaging.

Sustainability and Recycling Are Ultimately About Authentication

In a circular economy, material has to go round several times. Reusable packaging, recycled content materials, closed-loop systems. All of this falls down if counterfeits pollute the streams. You can't have reusable packaging if unauthorized versions are circulating which don't meet durability standards. You can't have recycled content programs if fakes use non-compliant materials.

Invisible signatures protecting the brand weaponize the circular economy. Genuine products are verified reliable at every cycle. Material integrity is certain. Recycling streams are guarded against attack. Reuse systems know which products are safe for refill.

This brings on a positive feedback loop. Brands invest in sustainable materials. Invisible signatures protect that investment. Consumers check for genuineness. Recycling streams are kept clean. Materials go through several cycles as planned. Environmental impact per cycle falls.

Regulatory Compliance Cuts Both Ways

EU PPWR regulations push the development of sustainable packaging. DSCSA regulations guide the traceability of the supply chain. Digital Product Passports require transparency in materials. These regulations are driving brands to become more sustainable and protective of their brand at the same time.

Invisible signatures in packaging artwork meet DPP requirements while authenticating products entered into these systems. Serialization systems adhere to DSCSA deadlines while stopping fakes from getting through. Track and trace platforms satisfy PPWR traceability requirements as well as protecting the supply chain.

Smart brands realize that they are simply not constructing compliance systems. What they are building is one system that meets all regulatory requirements plus brand protection plus environmental targets. The return on investment is extremely high, since one project handles three major challenges at the same time.

Consumer Trust in Green Brands

Consumers are taking an increasing interest in sustainability. 42% of Europeans deliberately avoid brands that use excessive plastic. But sustainability claims that can't be verified are also the subject of consumer skepticism. Greenwashing is real. Brands pretend they are green when they are not.

Invisible signatures create sustainability that can be verified. When consumers scan a product, they get authentic information about materials, sourcing, recyclability and environmental impact. It is not only deceptive corporate nonsense! Cryptographic proof. The same checking mechanism that proves this product is genuinely itself can just as easily verify sustainability claims for it.

This begets true customer loyalty. People who buy from a brand because it has these actual sustainability practices have the nearest thing to market in customer loyalty one could ever hope for. They will bear a high premium. They will tell their friends about you. But not if their confidence is unverified. Invalid signatures make it signable.

The Real Calculation

You work with new packaging designs for sustainability. Cost in exchange for benefit. New materials, new processes. Even environmental impact per unit. That is the traditional sustainability Return on Investment calculation today. It works. One sees margin pressure initially, then recovery as volume grows.

However, layering in invisible signatures of the same type—same packaging, new features. Now it also halts counterfeiting. This preserves brand equity. Lower number of counterfeits means revenue recovery. Regulatory compliance from PPWR, DSCSA and DPP requirements. But scan data also provides operating intelligence. And avoiding counterfeit contamination in supply chains greases the skids.

The same outlay on packaging now brings many returns. Sustainability. Brand protection. Regulatory compliance. Intelligence. Trust on the part of the consumer. Integrity shoring-up of the supply chain. The ROI calculation multiplies many times over.

Questions That Come Up

Does invisible authentication make my packaging design more complicated?

On the contrary. It simplifies it. Packaging is kept as minimal as possible and you don't add any kinds of visible security features that take up space or materials. The authentication happens 'under the hood' and the design remains both clean and sustainable.

Can it actually prevent recycling streams being contaminated?

When invisible signatures verify product authenticity, counterfeiters are not able to move through recycling systems. Clean supply chains bring us cleaner recycle streams. Materials pass through the cycle appropriately without becoming contaminated.

Will my reuse system work properly if counterfeits are present?

No. Your reuse system will not work properly if such is the case. Reusable packaging must hold up through repeat cycles of use and be refillable with safety. Counterfeits cannot meet these standards. Invisible signatures guarantee authenticity and prevent fakes from entering the reuse loop. It is working.

But what about the cost?

Invisible signatures add trivial expense. No special materials. No change of equipment. Over the long run the investment pays off in better regulatory compliance, counterfeit prevention and environmental benefits.

Making It Happen

Begin by setting goals for both sustainability and brand protection. On which points have counterfeits made inroads? Which materials are wasted? How about the limits of recycling? What regulatory requirements are missing within your market?

Design packaging systems that work on both counts. As little material as possible for the sake of environmentally friendly production. Invisible authenticity for the sake of brand protection. Digital content (using RFID chips or QR codes to encode information) for waste reduction. Talk about your future.

Start with priority products. Measure the drop in counterfeits. Examine stream flows of recycling. Investigate consumer trust. Quantify environmental considerations per unit. The evidence will be there: that sustainability and brand protection are not separate goals—they're really just a single line of approach taken from different standpoints.