The Pentawards annual packaging design competition has announced its shortlist, featuring projects in the sustainability category that demonstrate exceptional material innovation.
The announcement comes during Plastic Free July, a key initiative started by the Plastic Free Foundation that is working towards its vision of a world free of plastic waste.
Even using recycled plastics has its own set of challenges, including being energy-intensive and costly. Projects like those in the Pentawards shortlist pave the way for a sustainable future, making new material processes accessible to brands big and small.
Here are some of Creative Boom’s favourite sustainable projects from the shortlist that show exceptional innovation and use alternative materials.
A cosy bubble wrap replacement
Up to 90% of wool goes to waste in European countries, adding up to 200,000 tonnes of waste every year. Woola designed a solution to this in the form of the Wool Gusset Envelope, which uses wool sourced directly from farmers in Estonia, who would otherwise burn or bury it as it is too coarse for the textile industry.
Wool Gusset Envelopes were designed to replace plastic bubble wrap and can be used to ship fragile products such as beauty, skincare, and health goods to their customers. The product features an FSC-certified paper exterior and an inner layer padding made of 100% waste wool.
Despite being rough, the material still has all the great qualities of wool – its elasticity, water repellency, and resistance to temperature extremes – making it the perfect packaging material.
