The winning design of the Better with Less – Design Challenge presents an ecological alternative to single-use plastic

Metsä Board is delighted to announce the winner of its international packaging design competition the Better with Less – Design Challenge. ‘Expandable Eco Street Food Ware’ is a smart and ecological solution that addresses the growing demand for street food packaging and to find an alternative to the use of plastic. This year sustainability, and the dual role of packaging, played an especially strong role among the participating designs.

The winner is a highly adaptable plastic-free packaging solution that can provide a simple and trendy alternative to plastic and styrofoam containers which are typically used to serve fast food. The paperboard container is 10 inches in diameter when laid flat and can be folded up to eight different ways ranging from a cone to a plate. The simple design therefore has many applications and can accommodate many types of food.

Besides saving material, the design minimises the space occupied by the container during storage as well as in disposal and recycling. The Expandable Eco Street Food Ware was designed by Christine Gamboa, a Senior Art Director, and Gaudy Danao III, an Associate Creative Director, both from the Philippines. Christine and Gaudy will receive the main prize of 7,000 euros.

“The winning design is a simple, smart and practical solution offering high variability with minimal material use – reflecting “Better with Less” at its best. It provides a good user experience and is truly environmentally friendly and economical.  Made of a plastic-free barrier board it is easily recyclable, compostable and biodegradable,” says the competition’s chairman, and the member of the jury, Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director at Metsä Board.

The winner of the second prize, 2,000 euros, is ‘Bruk’, a sustainable beverage carton that can be easily recycled with reduced plastic content, designed by Eric Smith from the United States. The third prize, 1,000 euros, went to ‘Razor’ that replaces standard plastic packaging by a minimalist paper box that covers only the razor heads while leaving the handles uncovered. The design was created by Magdalena Schmitz, Sarah Redlich, Mikayla Just and Alejandro Don Flores, all students in product design at the Münster School of Design.

“In the winning designs sustainability and circular economy aspects were well considered and innovatively implemented, and the competition between the top three was very tight. There were many inspiring solutions reflecting a shift in consumer trends from plastic towards more sustainable packaging materials. In some designs, the packaging had a dual role, becoming a part of the product when using it, which further strengthens the circularity of packaging,” says Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director at Metsä Board.

Metsä Board also offered an additional prize of an internship for one student at its new upcoming Paperboard and Packaging Excellence Centre in Finland. ‘Reload’ that allows the storage and sorting of full and empty batteries in the same package won the judges over in the student category. The package is designed by Hamzeh Za’balawi, Franziska Prior, Marcel Diederich and Oliver Ricker. In addition, an honorary mention went to Jasper Chou’s Project FF that is a sustainable glueless container for French fries and ketchup.

The international packaging design competition Better with Less – Design Challenge 2019–2020 was organised by Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group. The competition was arranged to challenge designers to create more environmentally friendly solutions for some of the most frequently used consumer packaging. As many as 146 entrants from 28 countries joined with their ideas. The jury included packaging design influencers from around the world.

Learn more about the winning design and the finalists from the competition website, betterwithless.org 

Link to photos

Metsä Board 
www.metsaboard.com 
Metsä Board is a leading European producer of premium fresh fibre paperboards and forerunner in sustainability. We produce premium lightweight folding boxboards, food service boards and white kraftliners for consumer goods packaging as well as retail-ready and food service applications. We work together with our customers on a global scale to innovate solutions for better consumer experiences with less environmental impact. The pure fresh fibres Metsä Board uses are a renewable resource, traceable to origin in sustainably managed northern forests. We aim for completely fossil free mills and raw materials by 2030.    

The global sales network of Metsä Board supports customers worldwide, including brand owners, retailers, converters and merchants. In 2019, the company’s sales totalled EUR 1.9 billion, and it has approximately 2,400 employees. Metsä Board, part of Metsä Group, is listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki. 

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Metsä Group
www.metsagroup.com
Metsä Group is a forerunner in sustainable bioeconomy utilising renewable wood from sustainably managed northern forests. Metsä Group focuses on wood supply and forest services, wood products, pulp, fresh fibre paperboards and tissue and greaseproof papers.

In 2019, Metsä Group’s sales totalled EUR 5.5 billion, and it employs approximately 9,300 people. Metsäliitto Cooperative is the parent company of Metsä Group and is owned by approximately 103,000 Finnish forest owners.