Selling drinks in certain markets means meeting specific labelling and container requirements. Two current examples: California’s CRV and the EU tethered cap rule. In both cases, machine vision helps verify compliance unit by unit. Let’s look at them.
What CRV (California Redemption Value) is
CRV is the deposit applied to beverage containers in California that the consumer recovers when recycling them. The regulation (managed by CalRecycle) requires the container to display the corresponding legend (e.g. “CA CRV” or “California Redemption Value”). A container without that marking or badly labelled doesn’t comply.
How to verify CRV with machine vision
Machine vision checks in-line that the label includes the correct CRV legend for the destination market, with legible text in the right position. It’s a case of labelling control that avoids border rejections and penalties.
The tethered cap
The EU Single-Use Plastics (SUP) Directive requires caps on many beverage containers to stay attached to the container (tethered caps). This adds a new check: verifying that the cap is present, well seated and correctly attached.
How to verify the tethered cap
Machine vision inspects the closure at 360° to confirm presence, position and correct attachment of the tethered cap, rejecting units that don’t comply. It’s a direct application of cap inspection.
At AIS Vision Systems we verify labelling and closure compliance with the AIS REV 360 and the AIS Hopper. Tell us about your market and container.