Dezeen promotion: Global packaging company Smurfit Kappa is looking for designers to enter its Better Planet Packaging Design Challenge and create sustainable alternatives to plastic packaging.
There are two challenges in the Smurfit Kappa Better Planet Packaging competition, and entrants can enter either one, or both. The first asks challengers designers to develop an alternative solution to the plastic stretch wrap around pallets, used to provide stability during transport and storage.
The packaging contest challenges people to develop an alternative to plastic stretch wrap
The second competition tasks entrants with designing an entirely paper-based parcel with thermal protection for temperature-sensitive products, such as chocolate, for use in the e-commerce sales channels.
Current thermal packaging is made with materials such as expanded polystyrene, a rigid cellular plastic, or is packaged with cool packs, making the parcels difficult for consumers to recycle.
The newly developed packaging would need to be able to keep the temperature low through transport, while also being renewable and recyclable, made using paper-based materials such as wood fibre.
Smurfit Kappa aims to start discussions about sustainable packaging with the Better Planet Packaging Initiative
"The toll that waste is taking on our environment is one of the biggest challenges facing our generation," said the company. "According to figures released in the European Commission Report in ...