Stora Enso Packaging Oy, a Finnish subsidiary of Nordic forest industry major Stora Enso Oyj has been bestowed a prestigious Worldstar design award for the design of its eco-friendly wood pellet packaging concept, PelletBox. The renewable and recyclable packaging is designed for heavy use in transporting and warehousing of pellets for heating. The awarded packaging is a sustainable alternative to the standard plastic bag currently used in the pellet industry.
The WorldStar Competition is one of the major events of the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) and is the pre-eminent international award in packaging. WorldStar Awards are based on the judges’ consensus that a packaging solution is superior in its category and market and better in its class in execution or innovation by comparison to others.
The judging panel consists of country representatives from WPO and one representative from the International Packaging Press Organisation. The 2021 awards received 345 entries from 35 countries around the world.
The pellet packaging is a good example of how clever design can help replace plastics with renewable, recyclable, and low-carbon material. The packaging provides strong usability advantages compared to alternative pellets packaging, enabling easier carrying and pouring as well as more compact storage, said Tom Lind, SVP Head of Corrugated Nordics at Stora Enso.
The packaging is a collaboration between Finnish packaging designer Karoliina Pennanen and the Stora Enso Packaging Automation team. In the packaging design work, special attention was paid to usability, recyclability, and visual appearance. The 12 kg pellet box, which replaces a plastic bag, is easy to bring home from the store thanks to the carrying handle.
In its motivation, the Award jury noted that the new packaging concept provides clear advantages in terms of usability: handier to carry, easier to pour the pellets directly into the stove, and easier to store at home.
Visually outstanding packaging, which enables differentiation in the store space, attracting new end users looking for a more comfortable and sustainable solution made of renewable and recyclable materials. After pellets are taken into use the package is easy to recycle, the motivation read.
