25th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation Collaboration, protection dominate themes

THIS year’s top winner of the 25th DuPont Awards  for  Packaging Innovation epitomises collaboration and showcases how packaging adds value.DuPont celebrated the silver anniversary of  its  global  packaging  awards  in  mid-May, granting top honours to UK-based design firm pi 3 for AidPod, which delivers life-saving  medicine  to  remote  sub-Saharan villages.  This unique packaging and distribution programme captured the premier  Diamond  and  the  Special  25th Anniversary ‘Food Security’ award.

AidPod is a self-contained anti-diarrheal kit that tucks between bottles in Coca-Cola crates. It wasdeveloped by pi 3 for ColaLife, an independent non-profit organisation that leverages The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) distribution network to get medicines and instructions to remote areas.

Medicine remains difficult to obtain in remote villages in sub-Saharan Africa. Consequently,  15%  of  the  mortality  in this area for children under 5 years old is attributed to diarrhoea, an easily treatable illness. Coca-Cola, however, is available almost everywhere in sub-Saharan Africa.

The package is securely sealed with a  strong  film  that  can  withstand  severe impact, maintain pack integrity and prevent contamination. The medicine is packaged in single-dose sachets to be mixed with water in  the AidPod  container,  which doubles as a clean mixing and a  single,  measured  dose drinking vessel.

Gold and Silver Awards
This year the independent panel of DuPont Packaging Awards  judges also granted four gold and 10 silver awardsfor for packaging in a diverse set of markets. The honours are based on ‘excellence’ in one or all of three categories: Innovation; Sustainability; and Cost/Waste Reduction.

Coop, the only food packaging to receive a Gold Award, decided to adapt a holistic approach to redesign its bowl by focusing on sustainability, convenience and economic aspects. The original convenience salad  bowl was very  popular  with consumers but came with a high amount of packaging and waste. It was bulky and not very convenient. Working with packaging designers and technologists, Coop reduced the packaging material by 30% by changing its original package from round to square and  using  recyclable  polyester  (RPET). The consumer-valued design enhancement features  include  a  removable,  multi-compartment tray that securely snaps onto the container as a lid and a “shake” function that allows consumers to conveniently mix the salad with the salad dressing.

Food packaging innovations dominated the Silver Awards with seven winners.

iCel polyamide-based sausage casings challenge cellulose, collagen and natural sausage casings in that it retains the benefits of both permeable and barrier films.  The high mechanical strength and elasticity of the polyamide-based casings allow the meat-processing industry to use high processing speeds during the sausage manufacturing process.  Since production of the casing doeКроссовки Lifestyle