Robyn Schäfer, an Institute of Packaging South Africa (IPSA) Packaging Technology student from the Western Cape, has been awarded the Nampak Special Mention Prize at the 2014 Student Gold Pack competition run by IPSA. The awards ceremony was held on Tuesday 21 October, in Cape Town, at the Two Oceans Aquarium.
"Nampak has been supporting the Student Gold Pack competition since 2000 and once again sponsored the Judges Special Mention Prize this year. Robyn, who won an award for her entry on luxury product packaging that focused on the gift box of Russian Standard Gold Vodka, delivered a project that demonstrated extensive understanding of recycling and packaging waste management," says Kirsten Tyler, Nampak Group Marketing Manager.
"Luxury product packaging is characterised by its use of excessive and non-recyclable packing materials. It forms part of the luxury product's appeal to the consumer as it adds to the perceived value of the product," says Robyn.
Her project focussed on developing luxury packing that was designed for recycling while maintaining the appeal and quality associated with luxury products. Not only did she focus on the gift box, but the elements of the bottled product as well.
The resultant mono material, zero adhesive solution reduced cost by 56% and manufacture cycle time by 24%. The paper materials used would be easily recycled with ordinary household paper waste. The amount of glass used in the bottle would reduce glass used in manufacture by around 20 tonnes per year.
"The package is used in a unique way to educate consumers about recycling and ensure that the package itself is recycled. The solution meets all the recycling objectives." adds Robyn.
Students were required to select any existing packaging in metal, glass, paper or plastic that they believe is not efficiently recycled in South Africa. They were challenged to re-design the packaging so that it not only satisfied the functional packaging requirements of the product but ensured that it could be effectively and efficiently recycled as well.
The eBook from PACSA, "Design for Recycling", provided guidelines on recycling within the current capacities and abilities in the South African market as well as listing the challenges from each recycling stream that would need to be overcome.
Students' submissions had to document reasons why the current packaging is inefficient for recyclability, specifications of their packaging solution for improved recyclability, as well as the evaluation of the functional benefits of the packaging and materials selected. To further explain the current and potential recycling efficiency of their packaging solution, details about the journey and stages that the packaging would have to go through after the product is consumed or used, was also required in the project submissions.
124 projects were entered into the Packaging category. Judges for the packaging category were: Lisa Parkes from PETCO; Jacques Lightfoot from Plastics SA; Shabeer Jhetam from The Glass Recycling Company; Samantha Choles from PAMSA/PRASA, Bill Marshall from IPSA and Vanessa von Holdt from IPSA.
The judges were very complimentary about Robyn's entry saying it was: "A comprehensive written report which represented excellence in all areas, a holistic approach to addressing all the sustainability and waste management elements of the current existing packaging and proposing practical and feasible solutions for each element of the overall pack."
The Student Gold Pack is open to any registered tertiary education student in the disciplines of Packaging Technology, Graphic Design and Food & Science Technology. The competition provides students with a unique opportunity to demonstrate their excellence and creativity in developing packaging solutions and concepts in an effort to bridge the gaps between manufacture, production and package design
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