Europe’s leading annual young talent competition for packaging design – the Pro Carton Young Designers Award – has received 461 entries, making this year’s competition the most widely entered in its history. Launched by the European Association of Carton and Cartonboard Manufacturers in 2012 to celebrate innovative uses of cartonboard and to promote sustainability in the packaging industry, students from 70 schools and universities across 24 countries have submitted entries this year.
Following a first round of judging, the jury, led by Satkar Gidda (Marketing Director at international design company, Siebert Head), met in The Hague to choose the finalists from prototypes in four categories: Packaging for the food and drink industry; Packaging in other sectors; Creative cartons – using cartonboard outside of packaging; and Save the Planet: how cartonboard can reduce or replace plastic Other judges were senior representatives from the retail trade, a brand owner, packaging design agencies and a carton converter. In total, 25 designs were selected for the public vote in July with the 10 finalists being invited to the European Carton Excellence Awards gala.
The winners will be announced at gala dinner at the ECMA Annual Congress on 19 September in Malta, with the winner of each category receiving an all-expense paid trip to the Stora Enso board mill in Sweden as well as practical training at AR Packaging.
Tony Hitchin, General Manager of Pro Carton said, “We’re absolutely delighted that the Pro Carton Young Designer Award has become such a well-established competition for new young talent in the packaging industry. It’s incredible that entries have nearly tripled since the awards were revamped in 2012. Brands must find ways to package products without damaging the environment while minimising the use of irreplaceable resources.
Using cartonboard as a material supports a truly circular economy because it is renewable, recyclable and biodegradable. It’s great to see that so many young designers understand this idea and wanting to support our vision for cartons as the ultimate solution to prevent packaging waste.”
