DPG, the organization founded to establish and administer a national deposit system for non-refillable beverage containers in Germany, announced on 8 July 2005 that a pre-contract regarding security marking of non-refillable deposit containers had been awarded to Bundesdruckerei. The solution developed by Bundesdruckerei is based on a special ink that can be applied on deposit containers. TOMRA has been Bundesdruckerei`s partner in this endeavor by developing a reader to detect the ink.

 

Due to certain issues with the Bundesdruckerei solution, DPG has today decided not to enter into a final agreement with Bundesdruckerei on the security marking. The issues are related to the ink, not to the ability of the TOMRA reader to recognize and detect the ink. DPG will instead evaluate an infrared marking system. This means that all reverse vending machine (RVM) manufacturers will have to change the reader developed for the Bundesdruckerei ink with a new reader that can detect an infrared marking. A new field test may not be considered necessary as the new marking is somewhat similar to the one currently in use in Denmark and therefore already a proven concept. In case the details of the new security marking are not specified in due time before 1 May 2006, this could mean that all non-refillable deposit containers will initially be recognized using barcode readers. Installed machines will then later be retrofitted with the required security features.

 

The impact on TOMRA of a change of security marking solution is insignificant. First of all, the deadline for implementing a nationwide deposit system in Germany is unchanged. This means that the demand/order situation for reverse vending machines is unchanged, as retailers need to find a cost-efficient way to handle large volumes of deposit containers as of 1 May 2006. Secondly, the specifications of a potential new security marking solution will be made available to all RVM manufacturers in order to ensure full system security and avoid fraud. This means that the security marking reader is not going to be a competitive advantage for any RVM supplier but rather a standard feature of all RVM's. This was also the case with the reader developed by TOMRA for the Bundesdruckerei solution.

 

TOMRA remains confident that we can meet all requirements set by DPG and satisfy the needs and demands of our customers in Germany going forward.

 

For further comments please contact President & CEO Amund Skarholt, phone +47 97 55 94 25

 

 

Asker, 2 December 2005

Tomra Systems ASA