Empty and full batteries tend to get mixed up in the household and cause chaos in the drawer. A student at HTWK Leipzig has now developed a simple and innovative solution that allows empty and full AA batteries to be stored separately in a single pack. She was honoured with the German Packaging Award in the Young Talent category and even received one of the coveted Gold Awards.
Leonie Theurer comes from Plön in Schleswig-Holstein and studies packagingTechnology and Sustainability at the Leipzig University of Applied Sciences (HTWK). The idea for Battpack was born in her fifth semester in the packaging development module. The task: to develop new packaging for a product or to optimise existing packaging.
„I then decided to further develop packaging for batteries. Everyone knows the problem: there are full and empty batteries in a drawer at home and you don't know which ones can still be used. So I came up with the idea of equipping a folding box with a mobile partition. This allows you to separate the batteries but still only have one box.“
Leonie Theurer
As easy disposal was also important to the student, she used easily recyclable cardboard. „I worked on my project for around three months and in the process Market analyses were carried out, the appropriate type of cardboard selected and the position for creasing and perforation determined. In the end, the sheet was printed and cut, glued and erected.“ Finally, a printed scale provides an overview in the battery compartment. „Folding boxes for batteries already exist, but without the additional function. With the help of the separating strip and the printed scale, you always know exactly where the batteries are, which and how many batteries are still full or already empty."
After completing the project, Leonie Theurer went to Athens for an Erasmus semester abroad. „My lecturer, Paula Balzereit, then really encouraged me to apply for the German Packaging Award and even submitted the prototype of the Battpack, as I was in Greece at the time. She gave me great support. I didn't expect to be one of the winners at all, especially as my concept was very simple and I hadn't invented anything new with the Battpack. So I'm all the more delighted about the award.“ The jury was delighted and said: „This student concept is simple, cost-effective and can be optimally integrated into existing processes. It solves the problem of storing and disposing of empty batteries in a smart way and therefore deserves a gold award from us.“
The budding packaging technologist is currently in her 7th semester. She still has an internship to complete and then her bachelor's thesis. Then it will be continue with the Master's programme, because: „I definitely want to work as a packaging technologist later on.“
