New competition to create the future of sustainable packaging

Packaging leader Smurfit Kappa has launched the "Smurfit Kappa Better Planet Packaging" initiative to create the future of sustainable packaging. For the occasion, the group is organizing a new competition as part of its drive to meet one of the biggest challenges in the packaging sector: reducing the amount of non-recyclable waste generated every day.

Aackaging accounts for nearly 40 % of the demand for plastics in Europe (1). Smurfit Kappa challenges designers, engineers, inventors and creative thinkers, both inside and outside the company, to design innovative packaging that will replace the countless non-recyclable wastes generated each year. Two challenges are proposed in the competition:

Replace the stretch film present around the pallets, which provides better product stability during transport and storage, with recyclable or reusable solutions, made of fibres for example;
To develop a fully recyclable e-commerce packaging solution for transporting products such as chocolate, i.e. with thermal protection.

The competition is open to all innovators around the world. The winners will receive a prize of €8,000 and the presentation of the winning solutions at the Smurfit Kappa Innovation Event in May 2019 in Noordwijk, Holland.

Arco Berkenbosch, Vice President Innovation and Development, says : "Packaging design has a key role to play in reducing the waste generated on a daily basis and creating a more sustainable future. Our Better Planet Packaging Design Challenge aims to inspire the global design community to work on concrete sustainable packaging design issues. We look forward to seeing the submissions and discovering the first winning innovations from the Better Planet Packaging Design Challenge. »

Applications are open until March 29, 2019 at 5:00 pm. It is possible to apply for both challenges. All entries will be reviewed by a panel of judges selected from Smurfit Kappa's Paper, Recycling, Corrugated and Sustainability divisions.
For all registration details, please go to the group's site : smurfitkappa.com/innovation/design-challenge

(1) Report from the European Commission : The EU Strategy on Plastics in a Circular Economy