2012 DuPont Packaging Awards—Silver Winners

2012 DuPont Award winners group

Easy-open condiment package helps protect the environment
The Kraft YES Pack—which stands for Yield, Ease and Sustainability—is an innovative and environmentally friendly flexible gallon dressing package. Yes Pack is designed to help Foodservice Operators manage costs and improve back-of-house efficiencies with improved dressing yield of up to 99 percent, compared to rigid gallon jug. The dual handled design allows for easy carrying and the smaller spout provides precision pouring. Also, when compared to the production of the rigid gallon jug, the YES Pack is made with: 50 percent less energy, 60 percent less plastic, and 70 percent fewer CO₂ emissions from transportation.

Electro-conductive packaging helps keep frozen food ‘fresh'
The Ultra-Freshness Preservation Freezing System from Mutsumi Chemical Industry Co. Ltd. uses technology proven in the electronics industry to ensure food quality and increase both shelf life and appeal. This rapid-freezing system uses both alternating and direct current, high "electric potential," at the same time to rapidly cool the product without oxidization, reducing the size of ice crystals that form in food cells. This process relies on a unique package design that includes an electro conductive bag made of LLDPE and DuPont Entira AS. The combination of rapid freezing and the innovative electro-conductive bag preserves food taste and texture, reducing the amount of edible food thrown away.
DuPont Packaging, 800-441-7515. www2.dupont.com/Packaging_Resins/en_US/index.html
Enshu-Kasei Co. Ltd.
Mutsumi Chemical Industry Co. Ltd., Japan 052 502 2505. www.mutumikagaku.co.jp
SUN Electric Co. Ltd.

Bottle design dramatically reduces material use and increases customer convenience and visibility for shoppers
To counteract the rising cost of raw materials, Kraft Foods/Cadbury India Ltd. redesigned bottles containing Cadbury products, reducing material use and allowing easy-open for the customer. The new lightweight Short Neck Jar for Confy replaces the traditional long-neck, screw-cap design with a short-neck, snap-fit cap, greatly reducing the amount of material used, maintaining stability and enabling to maintain all functional requirements of the jar. The market response is extremely positive.

Simplified closure system reduces waste, cost and supply chain complexity
Project Galvanise replaces the previous three-piece plastic closure of Ponds Talcum Powder with a two-piece rotating cap. The new bottle design increases shelf appeal, and the tamper-evident plastic cap ensures that the consumer is getting the "genuine" product, resulting in a 9 percent increase in market share. The snap-fit cap is easily assembled to the new round shape of the bottle and eliminates the need to orient the bottle during filling. Project Galvanise achieved significant cost savings and reduced polymer material savings use by 640 tons and 200 tons of PVC shrink sleeve elimination.

Desiccant laminate decreases contamination risks in pharmaceutical packaging
To provide extra protection for moisture-sensitive capsules, Amcor Flexibles Singen GmbH developed the Formpack Dessiflex Plus for cold-formed blister packaging. The desiccant is included in the sealing layer of the blister bottom foil, thus eliminating the need for a separate desiccant material and protecting each blister cavity individually. This extends shelf life of the product and increases its stability—significant factors in the pharmaceutical industry.
Amcor Flexibles, +33 15700 3619. www.amcor.com

Jewel-like brilliance achieved in premium injection molded cosmetics jar
Using insert injection molding, Amore Pacific achieved a new level of design innovation with its Sulhwasoo Dahamsul cream jar. This process removed the gap between the inner cup and the outside packaging, eliminating light refraction that would diminish the appearance of the inner graphics. The outside packaging easily adheres to the inner cup with DuPont Surlyn 3D overmolding technology, offering transparency and additional aesthetic appeal. The brilliance of the inner cup graphics shine out, giving the premium cream jar a jewel-like appearance.
AmorePacific, (82 31) 8047 2492. www.amorepacific.com

Microwaveable food tray cuts cost, waste through responsible sourcing
For Weight Watchers Smart Ones, traditional CPET microwaveable trays were replaced with a hybrid material combining polypropylene with calcium carbonate, a common natural mineral. The new frozen-food entrée tray from Pactiv Foodservice-Food Packaging reduces green house gas emissions by more than 45 percent during production, compared with CPET. Weight is reduced more than 15 percent and plastic use is reduced more than 40 percent, compared with previous designs. Environmentally friendly trays also are less brittle, reducing waste due to breaks during production and eliminating one of the top consumer complaints of broken trays.
Pactiv Foodservice-Food Packaging, 888-828-2850. www.pactiv.com/Products_NA/Foodservice/index.aspx

Consumer-inspired design revolutionizes laundry experience
This new, brightly colored liquid unit dose product is the first three-chamber unit dose in this category, offering an ultra-convenient, 3-in-1 laundry detergent that cleans, fights stains and brightens. Tide PODS eliminates spills and the need to measure and pour liquid detergents. The pre-measured unit dose pack from MonoSol uses a specially-developed film that dissolves completely in the wash, even in cold water, enabling consumers to reduce energy use by washing more loads in cold water. Tide PODS tubs from Plastipak Holdings Inc., made of 25 percent recycled PET, and the stand-up bags, reduce plastics use by 50 percent per load and total packaging material use by 11 percent per load compared to liquid laundry detergent bottles. Each Tide POD unit dose delivers great Tide cleaning in a form that is twice as compacted as liquid detergent today.
MonoSol LLC, 219-616-0660. www.monosol.com
Plastipak Holdings Inc., 734-0455-3600. www.Plastipak.com

Packaging differentiates high-end pet food
In the competitive, premium pet-food market, Mondi Lindlar GmbH helps Interquell's Happy Dog pet food products differentiate themselves on retail shelves with a unique and extraordinary packaging solution. The design features silver embossed 3D lettering, a matte material surface and high-definition flexo print. The distinctive, high-end package combines blind, flat, or relief embossing on plastic laminate and high-quality, high-definition printed images with sharp outlines and colors to create a remarkable design.
Mondi Coatings & Consumer Packaging GmbH, +43 1 790 13 4990. www.mondigroup.com

Microcellular technology keeps food containers cool or hot
Through the use of the ad-air solid-state microcellular plastics process, MicroGREEN Polymers uses non-reacting, recycled CO₂ gas to thermoform recycled PET plastic rolls into inherently insulating trays and cups. The CPET trays and the cold party cups are 45 percent lighter than their solid plastic counterparts and are respectively 70 percent and 60 percent less dense, resulting in lower thermal conductivity. This allows consumers to handle CPET trays straight from the oven without being burnt and keeps the beverage in their cold party cups refreshingly cold, while providing significant environmental benefits.
MicroGREEN Polymers Inc., 360-435-7400. www.microgreeninc.com

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