This year’s SPC Innovator Award winners lead the pack in sustainability, with inventive approaches to packaging sourcing, design, and recovery.

Kate Bertrand Connolly, Freelance Writer

October 15, 2020

3 Slides

Compelling innovations continue to emerge in sustainable packaging, with three of the most inspiring recent examples taking top honors in the 2020 SPC Innovator Awards. The winners are UPM Raflatac, for Forest Film; YFYJupiter, for redesigned bicycle packaging; and Graham Packaging, for REFPET Generation III refillable PET containers.

The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC), which hosts the SPC Innovator Awards, announced the winners at the Virtual SPC Advance event on September 30, 2020. The annual awards competition comprises three categories:

Innovation in Responsible Sourcing. UPM Raflatac was recognized in this category for developing a wood-based polypropylene label material. The responsible-sourcing category focuses on materials procurement and use, including new materials; improvements to conventional materials and sourcing methods; and new uses for materials in challenging applications.

Innovation in Design Optimization. YFYJupiter won this award for re-envisioning and radically simplifying bicycle packaging. The design-optimization category recognizes reduced materials use, design-driven process enhancements, and improved transportation efficiency, all with preserved or enhanced packaging performance and fewer life-cycle impacts.

Innovation in Recovery. Graham Packaging won this category for changing the design of its reusable PET bottles to reduce scuffing, which has significantly extended reuse of the bottles. This award category highlights recovered packaging, including design changes that make packaging more compatible with recovery infrastructure, as well as improvements in recovery programs/infrastructure and partnerships focused on advancing packaging recovery.

A panel of judges from the SPC staff and Executive Committee selected the three winners from a pool of 20 finalists. Start the slideshow to see the winners, with a description of the challenges and opportunities behind each project.

 

About the Author(s)

Kate Bertrand Connolly

Freelance Writer

Kate Bertrand Connolly has been covering innovations, trends, and technologies in packaging, branding, and business since 1981.

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