The judges have cast their votes and DuPont has announced the winners of its 29th annual Awards for Packaging Innovation competition, across a wide range of categories. DuPont says the honorees highlight the packaging industry’s commitment to sustainability, personalization and solving global challenges.
 
Commenting on the prestigious annual contest, Bernard Rioux, global packaging leader, DuPont Performance Materials, says, “The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation demonstrate how creative, committed and agile the packaging industry is in addressing global issues and consumer needs.”  He says, “This year’s winners included solutions for novel food storage, fermenting food products, premium beauty products, new packaging materials to target millennials and more. This competition brings out the very best of everyone in the packaging industry, and we are thrilled to see innovators raising the bar each year.”
 
Two awards, one in the Gold category, and one in Silver, went to packages in the Beauty industry.
 
In addition, as a competitor that spans packaging across all categories, GreenBlue earned a Silver Award for its How2Recycle label, which the organization calls “the next-generation recycling label for packaging.” How2Recycle is the first universal recycling labeling system that was designed specifically for consumers.
 
GOLD CATEGORY WINNER
AmorePacific, South Korea, won a Gold Award for its Prime Reserve jar, a cream jar “designed with the consumer experience in mind.”  According to the brand, “the elegant design of the cream jar provides consumers the ultimate indulgence and is an attractive addition to the consumers’ personal care product display in the home.” Made of 10 different components, this molded “jar within a jar” conveys luxury with its remarkable feel and weight. Thanks to AmorePacific’s technology, product manufacturers can decorate the outer jars while leaving the inner jar untouched and, if the formulation of the product is ever altered, the outer jar can still remain the same.
 
The previous package had the same water ripple effect but was made using the CNC shaving process. By using the new injection molding process, AmorePacific was able to achieve the same effect with a 76% reduction in material waste. DuPont judges noted: “This package was a great success in molding advancement, consumer indulgence and sustainability, going well beyond what was expected to deliver a high level of ‘premiumness’ and distinctiveness.”
 
 
SILVER CATEGORY WINNERS
From ‘Farm to Face’ standout Farmacy Beauty received a Silver Award for its Honey Potion Renewing Antioxidant Hydration Mask package, which “enhances the user experience because of the outstanding execution of the package design in telling the brand story.” The origami-like box unfolds to reveal the brand story inside, while the hand-drawn illustrations on the package help to tell a holistic story about the brand. The honey comb-shaped glass jar highlights the honey color of the product and contains a magnetic lid that holds the steel spatula to the wooden lid.
 
 
How2Recycle, the next generation recycling label for packaging (GreenBlue, USA) earned a Silver Award as “the first universal recycling labeling system that was designed specifically for consumers.” It fulfills brands’ need to simplify the understanding of packaging recyclability. With the How2Recycle label, consumers can easily understand the recyclability of each package, how to prepare each component of the package for recycling, and if a component is not recyclable. According to GreenBlue, not only is How2Recycle changing the recycling behavior of consumers, but it is also catalyzing design changes in packaging. The How2Recycle program is encouraging member companies to look at their packaging in a new way and think about how they might design their packages to be more recyclable. Three quarters (76%) of respondents to a poll conducted by GreenBlue have a more positive impression of a company that uses How2Recycle.