Packaging design competition “Better with Less” challenges designers to create more environmentally-friendly solutions

Better with Less – Design Challenge starts 6 November, 2017. The international packaging design competition, organized by Metsä Board, aims to find new packaging solutions for some of the world’s most frequently used and fastest growing types of consumer packages.

Billions of consumer packages are consumed globally every day, and as the population continues to grow, so will the number of packages. The high amount of plastic used in packaging is an international concern, in part because globally the plastic waste inputs into the oceans amount annually to almost nine million tonnes.

Packages will continue to have an important role in protecting and promoting products in the future, but as consumption grows, it’s becoming ever more important to develop packaging solutions that enable the use of renewable, non-fossil based materials and a wiser use of resources. Metsä Board recognises that packaging designers play a decisive role in this and that environmental impacts can be reduced, for example, by making packaging lighter, using renewable materials and making recycling easier.

“Packaging design can have a big impact on the environment. We need  to come up with new solutions and consider future generations – and think of ways we can create better consumer experiences that create less impact on the environment. With this competition, we aim to help advance innovative and sustainable packaging design in the world“, states the competition jury chairman and member of the competition jury Cyril Drouet, Design & Innovation Director, Metsä Board.

The competition will be judged by an international jury, including a number of renowned packaging design experts: Terri Goldstein, branding and packaging design professional. Peter Désilets, strategist and specialist in packaging sustainability aspects. Marianne Rosner Klimchuk, packaging design expert and Chair at Communication Design Pathways Department of Fashion Institute of Technology. Lars G. Wallentin, packaging designer who’s worked with worldwide known brands and John B. Mahaffie, futurist with primary expertise in future packaging solutions.

Registration is open from 6 November, 2017 to the 31 March 2018, at: ww.betterwithless.org. New packaging solutions can be designed for consumer packages, for example, takeaway meals, e-commerce, wellness, cosmetics and dry food packages.

The main prize for the Better with Less – Design Challenge is EUR 10,000. The competition is also open to students, and Metsä Board will offer as an additional prize the opportunity of an internship for one student with its packaging services team in Shanghai. The finalists and the winners will be announced during Spring 2018.

The competition can be followed on social media with the hashtag #betterwithless

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