As part of a major industry event at FachPack on 25 September 2018, the German Packaging Institute (dvi) presented 40 of the best packaging innovations with the German Packaging Award 2018. Two particularly innovative solutions from the “Sustainability” and “Design and Finishing” categories were honoured with the exclusive Gold Award.
Around 250 guests and members from the industry gathered in the Saal München hall at NürnbergMesse to celebrate the winners of the German Packaging Award 2018 and experience the eagerly awaited announcement of the Gold Award winners live. Moderator Volker Wieprecht was eloquent and full of humour and in no time at all got the audience thoroughly in the mood. Accompanied by loud whoops of joy, the representatives of the winning companies from five nations received their trophies, seals and certificates from Dr. Bettina Horenburg, dvi board member and overall responsible for the German Packaging Award and dvi managing director Winfried Batzke.
In her introductory remarks, Dr. Horenburg highlighted the increasing trend towards new efficiency amongst the 226 entries submitted in 2018. Under the guiding principle “As much as necessary, as little as possible”, highly successful and innovative work has been carried out and the focus placed firmly on recyclability and recycling management. In the eyes of Winfried Batzke, this is combined with a trend towards simplicity. Garish and colourful is no longer at the forefront. What is also striking is that packaging is needed more than ever before to be an information carrier in the supply chain. The dvi managing director addressed an urgent appeal for more self-confidence and the creation of a common voice within the industry as a whole. False modesty and the insular interests of individual material fractions were preventing an improved image in packaging.
Announcement of the Gold Awards
The announcement of the Gold Award winners was awaited with bated breath. The Gold Award offers the jury the opportunity to specifically highlight selected innovations from the circle of packaging award winners as a particularly important and successful solution.
The first of the two Gold Awards went to the innovative FlexiClose(re) thermoformed packaging by the Schur Flexibles Group. Thermoformed packaging has become an essential feature on our retail shelves. At the same time, it poses a major recycling challenge because it is made of different types of plastic. FlexiClose(re) thermoformed packaging developed by Max Wolfmaier and designed by Irene Pfundner and Carla Blumenröther now offers a polyolefin-based monomaterial solution that is ideally suited for high-quality material recycling. The new solution makes no compromises in important functional properties such as transparency, strength, barrier properties and resealing though. On the contrary, a special manufacturing process even minimises the unwelcome worry of the lid film tearing. The jury sees FlexiClose(re) as an important step towards a sustainable recycling economy, at the same time providing excellent consumer friendliness and product protection.
Hordijk verpakkingen’s Seepje detergent packaging won the other Gold Award in the “Design and Finishing” category. The originality of the packaging shaped like a classic bar of soap is impressive while at the same time having decisive sustainable benefits. The innovation was developed by Flex Design Delft and designed by Helder Groen and consists of 97 per cent recycled HDPE. The bottle and paper label can be easily separated from one another for ease of recycling after use. The jury was also impressed by the wide range of possibilities for simple differentiation and presentation of product types and classes at the POS.
