German Packaging Award: Coca-Cola tracks reusable glass bottles digitally

30.07.2026: Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Deutschland (CCEP DE), Vetropack, and Myneral Labs win the German Packaging Award 2026 in the "Digitalisation" category. The award recognises a process that marks every reusable glass bottle with an individual code, making it digitally traceable. It is the first of its kind in the beverage industry. Together with glass bottle supplier Vetropack and the start-up Myneral Labs, CCEP DE developed the solution for 0.75-litre bot-tles of the ViO and Apollinaris brands. The pilot project is currently running at the production site in Bad Neuenahr and has also recently been deployed at a second plant in Lüneburg. As a result, entire bottle inventories can be digitally traced for the first time. The German Packaging Institute (Deutsches Verpackungsinstitut e. V.) awards the prize annually based on the assessment of an independent panel of experts.

From experience to a digital history

Glass bottles were based on experience and empirical models across the industry. With the new process, each bottle receives an engraved Data Matrix code – a kind of digital fingerprint. AI-powered camera systems on the production line read the serial number at every pass. This creates a continuous digital history for each bottle: How often was it filled? When and why was it removed from circulation? The data obtained replaces previous extrapolations and makes it possible to precisely manage and plan bottle inventory.

“We are making the reusable cycle digital and transparent”

"With serialisation, we are connecting the physical bottle to the digital world. For the first time, we are able to track how our containers move through use cycles on an individual bottle basis. This helps us use resources more purposefully and design processes more efficiently," says Maika Seidler, Senior Manager Digital Innovation & Experimentation at CCEP DE. Erich Jaquemar, Key Account Manager at Vetropack, emphasises: "The combination of material expertise and digital solutions opens up new possibilities within the reuse cycle. Serialisation enables us to lay the foundation for long-term, future-proof optimisations."

Three partners, one solution

Vetropack engraves the Data Matrix codes directly onto the bottles during glass production. Myneral Labs, winner of the CCEP innovation initiative "Open Challenge", provides the AI-powered camera technology and the software for data evaluation. CCEP DE manages the project and its integration into ongoing production operations. The partners jointly developed and successfully completed the proof of concept.

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Deutschland (CCEP DE) is Germany’s largest beverage company, with sales volume of nearly 4 billion litres in 2025. CCEP DE is responsible for bottling, selling, and distributing Coca-Cola products in Germany and operates nationwide across 23 locations, including 13 production sites. The company serves approximately 340,000 retail and hospitality customers and employs more than 6,000 people. CCEP DE is part of Coca-Cola Europacific Partners (CCEP).

Please note our data privacy protections at: https://www.cocacolaep.com/company/privacy-notice/ 

The Vetropack Group numbers among Europe's leading manufacturers of glass packaging for the food and beverage industry, with 3,532 employees and net sales of CHF 778.9 million in 2025. Vetropack has state-of-the-art production plants as well as sales and distribution offices in Switzerland, Austria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Slovakia, Ukraine, Italy, the Republic of Moldova, and Romania.