Alupro is giving you the opportunity to design your very own personal care product and brand (non-luxury) packaged in sustainable aluminium through the Starpack Awards competition. Win £500 & a visit to Crown Packaging’s Beverage Can Plant, as well as winning a Gold, Silver or Bronze award at the Starpack awards ceremony in June 2022.

It is more important than ever for the future and health of our planet to consider material choices in new product design.  However, there are still unrecyclable materials used in many different forms of packaging that are having a negative environmental impact. Aluminium is a great material choice as it has many qualities that lend themselves to the design of sustainable, innovative, attractive, functional yet still fully recyclable packaging.

The Brief

We want you to create or re-design a package for a daily (i.e.non-luxury) personal care product, moving away from its usual plastic/flexible/multi-material/glass packaging to an infinitely recyclable aluminium solution. You will need to focus only on primary packaging and not use any secondary packaging.  The product will need to be easily manufactured (in volume), have shelf appeal, marketability and be reusable or fully recyclable at the end of its useful life. The product should ultimately address the need to displace the use of unsustainable packaging in the marketplace, with consideration given to the entire life cycle (i.e packaging production, filling, supply chain, retail, consumer use, recycling and reprocessing).

The brand design, values and communication messages are essential, as well as the actual design of the packaging. You will need to demonstrate real ‘shelf appeal’ that showcases sustainability and just what can be done with aluminium.

Points to consider

• The design should only include primary packaging.
• The product needs be able to be manufactured.
• Aluminium is light and strong so it can be manufactured in a variety of shapes and sizes, it takes graphics very well and its natural sheen and brightness gives it great ‘shelf appeal’.
• The brand messaging is equally as important as the design of the product. It should include a justification of why aluminium is the best choice for the product and packaging, not simply a different material choice.
• The product needs to be able to be recycled easily, preferably through councils’ kerbside recycling systems. You will need to take into account that any residual contents in your packaging after use, can easily be removed/cleaned.
• Think about the unique attributes of aluminium and use as many as you can in your designs.
• If your product is reusable or refillable, think how the package will be refilled and consider the packaging that is used contain the product to refill your product.

Materials to be used

The packaging must be made out of aluminium or an aluminium alloy.

An actual mock up is not essential, but we do expect clear drawings/graphics to showcase the product. The product needs to be able to demonstrate that it can be manufactured, filled, transported, marketed, consumed and appropriately recycled.

Free Aluminium Training

Give your entry the edge with free technical training.  The Aluminium Federation (Alfed) will provide free bespoke training sessions as part of the brief, (once you have registered for the Starpack Awards on their website, details TBC) on the benefits of using aluminium in packaging design and how the metal is formed and shaped using different technologies.

To register for these dates please email Kathy Romback at KRomback@alfed.org.uk to book your space.

The Starpack Awards

The Starpack Awards is a competition based on consumer packaging design that encourages schools and students to take up future careers in this area. Find out more about this award and many more here.

Alupro

The Aluminium Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) is an industry funded, not-for-profit organisation with over 30 years’ experience representing the UK’s aluminium packaging industry. We work to fulfil the industry’s obligation to meet, and exceed, recycling targets for aluminium packaging. We are achieving this by working in partnership with local authorities, the waste management industry and the wider metal packaging sector to develop and stimulate the UK’s collection infrastructure. We also manage and run consumer information and education campaigns to encourage participation in recycling schemes. www.alupro.org.uk

To Enter

The competition runs from September 2021 through to March 2022.

To enter, send your design entry via the Starpack Awards Website  

Entries will be judged by independent key figures from the packaging industry with entries being awarded Gold, Silver, Bronze and special awards being presented at the annual Starpack awards ceremony in June 2022. Students winning a Student Starpack Award are eligible to enter the World Star Student Awards, delivering the opportunity for international recognition and profile.

PRIZE

• £500 in prize money.
• A visit to Crown Packaging’s Beverage Can Plant in Leicester or Botcherby (near Carlisle).
• Eligibility to enter the World Star Student Awards.

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