WorldStar Awards 2024: Three awards for packaging innovation
Our teams in Spain, Finland and Hungary have received well-deserved recognition at the WorldStar Global Packaging Awards for exceptional packaging innovation.
The World Packaging Organisation's annual WorldStar Global Packaging Awards recognises exceptional packaging innovations on a global scale, attracting 435 entries from 41 countries in this year's competition.
We won two awards in the Transit category and one in the E-commerce category.
Innovative packaging solution for vehicle chassis
In Spain, we won an award for our innovative, large corrugated packaging solution for vehicle chassis. The award was nominated within the Transit category, and the solution provides a sustainable option to traditional packaging materials like metal, Expanded Polystyrene (EPS), Expanded Polypropylene (EPP) or wood.
The packaging is made of single-use, 100% recyclable corrugated cardboard, which is lighter than other materials. It also comes with self-assembly positioners made of corrugated cardboard, allowing for direct construction on the assembly line. Additionally, the parts of the packaging can be easily adjusted and protected at any stage of the supply chain, including transportation, delivery, and assembly. The customer has benefited from optimised cost performance and improved sustainability credentials.
Award winning transport packaging solution - “Carry Away”
In Finland, designer Jyrki Valkama won his fourth WordStar award for creating an innovative packaging solution, "Carry Away", for Artek, a well-known lifestyle brand in the E-commerce category. The winning design is a simple mono-material solution made fully from a mix of corrugated cardboard and other fibre material replacing the previous plastic foam version. Additionally, the outer box has a hand hole, making it easy to carry, and it's easy to recycle.
One of the key benefits of this new design is that it can fit several different kinds and sizes of chairs, thus reducing valuable space in the warehouse. The protection of the product is not compromised, and this omnichannel solution is now used both in Artek stores and online.
Plastic-free and fully recyclable packaging to protect navigation systems during transit
In Hungary, DS Smith and Raymarine were awarded for their innovative solution in the Transit category. They have created a packaging solution that replaces plastic and foam-based packaging for Raymarine, a marine and boat electronics specialist.
The new plastic-free packaging is fully recyclable and designed to provide robust protection for navigation systems and other sensitive electronic products during transit. It is also resistant to a variety of climatic conditions when transported by road, air, or water. To create this packaging solution, DS Smith's expert designer, László Kerekes, incorporated corrugated cardboard and replaced the problematic vibration-absorbing foam with alternative and sustainable folded corrugated inserts.
These inserts are used to create crumple zones and protect the packaging from external impact while keeping products stable during transit. Raymarine's previous packaging contained more than 50% problematic plastic, which DS Smith has now successfully eliminated.
The new packaging solution saves up to 60% of CO2 emissions per unit, from 2.1kg to 882kg, and 2.4 tonnes of CO2 emissions a year, in total. Moreover, corrugated inserts designed for transportation in flat packs have significantly reduced the number of pallets used in inbound logistics by 75% compared to the previous foam inserts that were shipped as a single item. This change has also helped to reduce unnecessary waste by more than 12%.
