The Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) announced the winners of the 2023 Annual Awards at a ceremony held last night, 2 November.
The event was dedicated to honouring businesses that have shown excellence in sustainable packaging design and innovation.
Electronics company Belkin Limited clinched the highly coveted Best of Reporting Excellence Award for its investigative work on how its packaging is managed post-consumer purchase.
The data gathered from the project informed the development of packaging that aligns with the National Packaging Targets for single-use plastic reduction, recycled content, and the use of compostable materials. It was also applied to Belkin products that have been sold globally.
Bryan McKay, head of packaging at Woolworths Group, was recognised as this year’s Sustainable Champion for his efforts to scale sustainable packaging initiatives that have made significant contributions to packaging circularity within the FMCG industry.
CHEP Australia is among the winners from the manufacturing and packaging industries and took home the Reuse Award for its new and significantly upgraded service centres that underpin its successful reuse model. The service centres feature state-of-the-art technology to repair, wash, and condition CHEP pallets, bins, and containers, and enable the supply chain to support thousands of companies to deliver their goods every day.
Industry leaders Tetra Pak Oceania and saveBOARD were recognised in the Our Packaging Future (OPF) Recycling Systems Award for working in partnership to launch Australia’s first beverage carton recycling facility in Warragamba, New South Wales.
Brother International Australia took home the OPF Sustainable Packaging Guidelines Implementation Award for its work in pioneering sustainable packaging practices, creating packaging with a clear recovery solution in mind and incorporating recycled content into its packaging.
Meanwhile, global manufacturing giant SC Johnson secured the OPF Recycled Content Award for its Windex® Original and Windex® Ammonia-Free bottles made from 100 per cent Recovered Coastal Plastic.
“It has been a great pleasure to hear the success stories of collaboration, innovation and leadership from this year’s finalists and winners. The Awards demonstrate the industry’s progress to meeting the 2025 National Packaging Targets and more broadly how we are shaping the future of packaging here in Australia,” said Chris Foley, CEO of APCO.
“It is empowering to see organisations across the industry laying the foundations for a stronger packaging system beyond 2025, and making tangible progress toward implementing a circular economy for packaging. I can’t wait to see the ground-breaking achievements and positive change that emerge over the next year.”
The 2023 Annual APCO Awards was held in partnership with the Banksia Foundation and convened over 200 guests from the packaging, waste, and recycling industries.
