Award: Silver Award—Expanding the Use of Flexible Packaging

Manufacturer: Glenroy, Inc.; glenroy.com

Description: The innovative, flexible EcoVue® single dose ultrasound gel packet features custom flexible packaging film with many benefits to the medical industry, consumers, and society overall. It is easy to hold, use, and open, but it is also lightweight and requires less energy to manufacture and transport.

Award: Silver Award—Technical Innovation

Manufacturer: Flex Films (USA) Inc.; flexfilm.com

Description: The 2022–2023 flagship for Flex Film’s continued technological advancement efforts in BOPET film developments is this revolutionary, ultra-high barrier, and very high-metal-bond metalized BOPET film, suitable for total foil replacement in laminates. With a strong focus on end-use customers, society, and the planet, a specially developed in-house manufacturing process allowed F-UHB-M to outperform typical expectations in barrier performance and film properties while maintaining the cost of a barrier/metallized film.

Award: Silver Award—Technical Innovation

Manufacturer: ProAmpac; proampac.com

Description: Metropolitan Tea uses ProAmpac’s ProActive Compostable® CPM-2000 structure for its premium single-serve and loose-leaf teas. CPM-2000 is a high-barrier, paper-based laminate for dry foods. The Biodegradable Products Institute certified that CPM-2000 complies with the specifications established by the American Society of Testing and Materials Standards’ ASTM D6868 for industrial compostability.

Manufacturer: Glenroy, Inc.; glenroy.com

Description: Kiehl’s refill pouches are a new launch from the brand. The refill pouches are available in a selection of Kiehl’s favorite products, including formulas for hair, body, and hygiene. The pouches contain two to five times the formula of a standard 250m bottle, are made of a sturdy flexible structure that uses up to 81% less plastic than traditional rigid bottles, and are optimized for the rigors of e-commerce.

Manufacturer: Integrated Plastics Packaging; ipp.ae

Description: Herman Brot Australia vacuum packs its tortilla wraps in a nylon/PE film pouch. To facilitate the opening of the package, Integrated Plastics Packaging offered its proprietary “Easy Linear Tear Zipper” technology, which offers cost savings versus the more traditional approach of using laser scoring. The exceptional performance of the technology ensures a straight clean tear of the laminate, allowing easy access to the product and subsequent use of the reclosable zipper, and adding to the consumer delight experience.

Award: Silver Award—Expanding the Use of Flexible Packaging

Manufacturer: Paharpur 3P; paharpur3p.com

Description: This spouted stand-up pouch package for 1 L lubricant oil replaces traditional rigid plastic bottles and reduces greenhouse gas emissions by more than 1,100%, packaging landfilled by 163%, and plastic usage by 64%. The pouch was designed to protect the integrity of high-performance oils and lubricants, which tend to migrate and may cause layer separation. The technical aspects to ensure leakage, dart, and puncture resistance, as well as the physical appearance of the pouch, were considered in the design process. Compared with rigid bottles, inventories of spouted pouches are much more space efficient and require much less area to store.