The Diamond Award, the top honour of the competition, was awarded to Procter & Gamble for its Air Assist liquid packaging technology. Air Assist is a breakthrough in performance and sustainability for e-commerce and brick-and-mortar packaging. The liquid packaging technology uses compressed gas to provide tailored rigidity to create structure in flexible films. By utilizing a proprietary one-way valve, the new packaging form delivers cleaner dispensing, more controlled dosing and more convenient one-handed use while still being tough enough for e-commerce shipping without extra protection. Air Assist also uses 50%less plastic than a traditional rigid bottle and has a 360-degree palette for design, making it a more resource-efficient solution.
Silver award - Flat Wine Bottle (Delivering Happiness Limited’s T/A Garçon Wines): Delivering Happiness Limited, a British company trading as Garçon Wines, is the inventor and granted IP holders of a flat wine bottle, specifically designed for e-commerce in the UK so that it could fit through mail slots or letterboxes, in the doors of UK homes. The primary package, a slender 750ml recycled PET bottle, lays flat in a dye-cut cavity in the same shape as the bottle within the postal pack in which it gets delivered. Using 100% post-consumer recycled PET instead of glass significantly reduces shipping weight and cost, eliminates potential breakage in transit and offers a more eco-friendly packaging material solution than regular plastic or glass.
LiquiForm® (Amcor Rigid Plastics): LiquiForm is revolutionizing the future of liquid packaging. The technology uses the customer’s liquid product instead of compressed air to simultaneously form and fill containers. The liquid product essentially forms its own rigid plastic container. This game-changing process helps design, develop and deploy products through fewer steps and a single source, creating a world in which manufacturing is nimbler, supply chains are tighter, systems are more efficient, facilities are more localized, and the entire process is more sustainable.
Silver award, Simply® Beverages Recycle Code No. 1 Extrudable PET Juice Container (The Coca-Cola Company): The material for Simply Beverages’ 89-ounce recyclable juice container was developed and commercialized through close collaboration between The Coca-Cola Company, Indorama Ventures and converting partner CKS Packaging Inc to reduce the package’s weight by 9% while also increasing recyclability and maintaining the familiar form of he previous bottle.
Diamond finalist award, Tubairless® (Pumpart System®): Tubairless, also known as Tubeasy, is a hybrid packaging solution that bridges the gap between squeezable tubes, soft pouches and airless pump bottles. The packaging forms a “bag-in-squeezable-tube” by using a vent hole in the middle of the sleeve and integrating an internal flexible pouch. Tubairless reduces product waste by 80%, enhancing natural ingredient preservation, easily dispensing viscous creams, controlling the flow and size of each dose and retaining the shape, aesthetics and ergonomics of the tube. Tubairless is also 50% lighter than traditional airless pump packaging because the pump is replaced with a lightweight PE pouch. Tubairless can be made of bio-based and PCR PE and is 100% recyclable. The packaging eliminates the need to twist, crush, flatten or cut a squeezable tube to get all of the product.
Diamond finalist award, Waterless Internet Flower Packaging (Uflex Limited): Waterless Internet Flower Packaging is based on Active Modified Atmospheric Packaging Technology (AMAP). Uflex Limited has engineered a special proprietary patented polymeric film to offer a packaging solution for fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers. A fast respiration meter is used to determine the respiration rate of flowers, and associated software then calculates the required film permeability. A special laser system uses the information to adapt the permeability of the film offered by Uflex through micro-perforations. This proprietary polymeric substrate is the first biodegradable film that maintains the hydration of flowers during transpiration – put simply, evaporation causing loss of moisture during respiration – thus creating a closed loop system.
Gold award, Green Giant Veggie Spirals™ PrimaPak® (Sonoco Products Company): The Green Giant Veggie Spirals PrimaPak package is a flexible, stackable, resealable package produced from a single roll of film on modified Ilapak vertical form-fill-seal machinery. PrimaPak is designed as an alternative to bags, stand-up pouches, cartons and rigid containers. The lightweight rectangular box-like shape improves package cube by up to 30%, enhancing space useage on trucks, warehouses and store shelves. All six panels can be printed for maximum space to communicate to consumers. The microwaveable packaging features vent holes as well as a peel-reseal lid for easy opening. Consumers simply place the package in the microwave to heat. The opening created by the label is big enough to see the contents and gives consumers the option to heat, blend additional ingredients and serve directly out of the package, without the need for a bowl or serving dish.
Gold award, Head & Shoulders Beach Bottle (Procter & Gamble): This was the largest-ever commercial production of bottles and end products using beach plastic. It is the first-ever application to use 25% plastic reclaimed from beaches to convert a bottle that is also municipally recyclable. Although this was a limited edition production run, it significantly raise consumer awareness about packaging waste.
Silver award, Downy (Lenor) Parfum des Secrets Package (Procter & Gamble): Created by a beauty designer and inspired by fine fragrance packaging, this container from Procter & Gamble is multi-faceted and resembles a fine cut diamond. The use of a removable full body sleeve allows for easy recycling. Because of the sleeve the colorants can be removed from the PET bottle while maintaining shelf appeal. Secondly the sleeve’s perforation allows easy removal of the sleeve, further increasing the pack’s recyclability.
Silver award, Ariel PurClean™ Package (Procter & Gamble): Procter & Gamble’s Ariel PurClean™ bottle is made from 35% post-consumer recycled content, is 100% recyclable and is even manufactured at a facility in France, using 100 % wind energy electricity and sending zero manufacturing waste to landfall with a 0% landfill scrap rate. And moreover, the detergent is made with 70% plant-based and bio-derived ingredients.

30th Dow awards for packaging innovation

DOW’S 30th Awards for Packaging Innovation last year successfully continued the DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation programme, the industry’s longest-running independently judged packaging awards programme. As in years past, the judging panel featured experts with diverse backgrounds, providing global perspectives across design, engineering, retail, converting and academia. The judges evaluated more than 200 entries from companies in 30 countries.

Judges also selected nine Diamond Finalist Winners, eight Gold Award Winners and eleven Silver Award winners. Here are the designs which predominantly feature polymers.

  • Entry submissions for the 31st Awards for Packaging Innovation closed in April and the winner will be announced during the 3rd quarter of 2019.