inotec group will showcase durable in-mold RFID and multi-ID labels for reusable packaging at PACK EXPO Las Vegas 2025. Fresh from an RPA award win with Euro Plant Tray, the company highlights U.S. expansion, RPA membership value, and a pragmatic “right-tech” approach.
Germany-based inotec group will showcase durable, hygienic in-mold RFID and multi-ID labels for reusable transport packaging at PACK EXPO Las Vegas this September. Director of Marketing Kirstin Heidenwag said the company is “all-in on U.S. growth,” highlighting the value of RPA membership, advocacy for common standards, and a pragmatic “right-tech” mix across RFID, barcodes, QR, and where it fits—BLE. inotec will exhibit in the Reusable Packaging Pavilion, South Hall Upper, SU-36011.
inotec’s pitch is simple: build the identifier into the reusable asset once, so it survives use, washing, and automation while remaining fast to read. “We started as a paper label maker 40 years ago, then barcodes, then realized adhesive labels can fail,” Heidenwag said. “The next step was to place the label in the plastic during molding, and finally combine that with RFID. That in-mold RFID label is what we’ve deployed at scale in Europe, and we’re expanding in the U.S. now.”
Standards and convenience: “make reuse easy everywhere”
Heidenwag emphasized that convenience drives return rates—and that requires interoperable IDs. “They joke I’m the ‘standards lady,’” she said. “If every program uses different sizes, colors and IDs, you get chaos. Common identification lets people return items anywhere. Convenience is king.” She noted that deposit design and return-anywhere networks matter, whether in consumer cup pilots or high-circulation systems for bakery, horticulture, and retail.
A recurring theme in inotec’s portfolio is multi-ID redundancy: human-readable text, barcode, 2D/QR, and RAIN RFID on the same in-mold label. That keeps operations moving even when one read method is suboptimal and enables bulk portal reads when hundreds of assets arrive simultaneously—all with a flush, tamper-resistant label that survives washdown, UV, chemicals, and rough handling. Case studies in horticulture trays, standardized totes, and labeled half-pallets document simultaneous reads on the order of hundreds up to ~1,000 items, with labels that won’t peel, snag, or compromise hygiene.
Heidenwag framed inotec’s approach as “right-tech, not one-size-fits-all.” RFID often wins for high-volume, item-level visibility; BLE can make sense for low-count, higher-value flows; and many sites still lean on optical IDs. “The most important step is understanding the pain point,” she said. “Not everybody needs in-mold RFID. Sometimes adhesive RFID or purely optical is enough—but when you need hygienic, permanent, bulk-readable IDs, in-mold usually wins.”
Award spotlight: in-mold RFID for Euro Plant Tray eG (EPT)
The company recently received the 2025 Excellence in Reusable Packaging Award (Product Technology) for its in-mold RFID label, engineered for the Euro Plant Tray eG (EPT), a pooled, reusable plant-tray system that replaces single-use carriers in European horticulture. The EPT label integrates text, barcode, 2D/QR, and RFID into a small footprint, yet delivers strong read range and simultaneous multi-tray scans to speed gate moves and wash-return reconciliation. The durable, flush label supports real-time inventory, cross-border use, and high-circulation cleaning without retagging.
Heidenwag said EPT has already reported meaningful waste reduction since launch. “Since the fall of last year, they estimated saving about 2.5 million pounds of single-use trays,” she said—underscoring how embedded digital identity turns reuse from a policy aspiration into daily practice. The EPT concept aligns with PPWR timelines and is positioned as a new standard for plant logistics.
The same in-mold, multi-ID principles extend to standardized tote programs (e.g., GS1 SMART Box with Georg Utz), where labels must be hygienic, inseparable, and automation-friendly. These use cases show how embedded labels deliver durable identification, enable bulk contactless scanning, and perform reliably through years of automated handling.
RPA membership and U.S. market focus
Heidenwag credited RPA with helping inotec become acquainted with the North American market. “RPA has been very beneficial,” she said, noting meetings already lined up with major RTP players during PACK EXPO. Policy tailwinds in Europe (PPWR) are accelerating adoption there; in the U.S., she sees sustained interest driven by asset visibility, shrink reduction, and labor-saving bulk reads, even as sustainability messaging ebbs and flows.
See inotec at PACK EXPO Las Vegas
Where: Reusable Packaging Pavilion — South Hall Upper, SU-36011
What’s on display: In-mold RFID and multi-ID labels for bakery trays, horticulture carriers, display pallets, standardized totes, and other RTP—plus guidance on choosing between RFID, optical, and BLE based on scale and ROI.
See inotec on stage: Monday, September 25 10:30 AM: State of the Industry: The Game-Changing Opportunity with Artificial Intelligence in a Reusable Transport Packaging System
Rick LeBlanc, EMBA, is the founder and editor of Reusable Packaging News (subscribe to the free newsletter) and editor of Western Pallet Magazine. A supply chain journalist with more than 30 years of experience, he specializes in pallets, reusable packaging, material handling and related operations. Rick is co-author of Pallets: A North American Perspective and Pallets & Progress: A Collected History of Pallets and Palletized Handling 1922–1945. He is also an advisory board member of the Virginia Tech Center for Packaging and Unit Load Design. Read Rick’s full bio.
