The winners of the first German Sustainability Award for Design have been announced. In the packaging category, the companies Kneipp, Werner & Mertz and Everdrop were honoured for their sustainable solutions. In addition, a designer impressed the jury with an innovative material development.
104 finalists made it to the final round of the German Sustainability Award. Yesterday evening, the winners of the first ever award were announced. The 37 best products, solutions and systems represent a broad spectrum of different areas of life and industries. The first DNP Design honour was awarded to the German industrial designer Dieter Rams. Four solutions from the packaging sector were victorious.
Sustainable concept from Everdrop
Everdrop produces plastic-free household cleaning products in innovative tab form. Dissolved in 500 to 750 ml of water, they become a liquid detergent. Everdrop offers high-quality, reusable bottles made from 100 per cent recycled plastic.
The cleaning tabs are vegan, microplastic-free and biodegradable. The tabs are packaged in easily recyclable, unbleached paper. A concept that the jury thought through to the end.
Lip balm velvety soft from Kneipp
100 per cent natural ingredients. A sleeve made from recycled cork, which is a waste product from wine cork production. A folding box made of cardboard, 25 per cent of which is mixed with grass from compensation areas in Germany.
And a cap made from Paper Blend. Paper Blend is a material that consists of 99 per cent bio-based, renewable raw materials. It is petroleum-free, industrially compostable and even decomposes in nature. The jury honoured a consistent packaging design that perfectly embodies the demands of ecology and sustainability.
Recyclable packaging from Frosch
According to the jury, the company founded by Werner & Mertz (W&M) in 2012 Recyclate initiative impressively demonstrated that branded packaging can be produced again from used plastic from the Yellow Bag. And this applies not only to detergents, cleaning agents and cleaning products, but now for the first time also to cosmetics, specifically shower gels.
To date, over 400 million bottles made from 100 per cent used plastic have been placed on the market as part of the initiative. There is no comparable high-quality recycling of mixed household packaging anywhere in the world. For the jury, this has made W&M a recycling pioneer.
Innovative material: Apeel
According to the jury, the feel and look of the material, which is made from organic waste such as banana and orange peel or soya milk residues, is reminiscent of an aesthetically exciting blend of soft leather. It is even characterised by a similar toughness, durability and water resistance.
However, the material is vegan, recyclable and completely biodegradable. Apeel is based on a manufacturing technique developed by the designer Youyang Song herself. The result is an innovative, exciting material which Wide range of possible applications open.
Design competition has proved its worth
Due to the current circumstances, the award ceremony took place as a hybrid event took place. The finalists and most of the jury members were connected to the venue at the Martitim Hotel in Düsseldorf via live video. Fittingly, the musical accompaniment was provided by the band Milky Chance. She was honoured with a German Sustainability Award for her efforts to create a „green“ tour design.
„The many outstanding submissions and the committed, first-class jury participation have confirmed that we have taken up a sensitive and important topic with our new design competition, which is particularly relevant despite, or perhaps because of, the current pandemic.“ Stefan Schulze-Hausmann, DNP initiator
Source: German Sustainability Award Design
Please also read our article from 23 October 2020:
This packaging has a chance of winning the German Sustainability Award Design
The German Sustainability Award Design will be presented for the first time this year. In addition to ideas and solutions for construction, furnishings, clothing and communication, packaging will also be honoured. The finalists have been announced.
The finalists for the first German Sustainability Award for Design have been announced. They reflect the diversity of committed design that already exists. With the „Finalist German Sustainability Award Design“ seal, the award, which was launched this year, is intended to show consumers which products can be bought with a clear conscience.
A high-calibre jury of experts selected the best products, solutions and systems in terms of the brief: 26 icons, 53 current pioneers and 25 visions for the future can now proudly call themselves finalists. They include start-ups as well as major international corporations, visionary student projects and design classics. The products and solutions are categorised into ten areas of need and come from very different sectors.
Material innovations have also prevailed in all areas: Sustainable packaging materials and systems such as the reusable system for shipping packaging RePack, the first German supermarket and online shop without disposable packaging Original Unverpackt, the storage containers Relics from Georgia von le Fort, the biovegan film packaging Nachhälter from Grünkunft or the edible food packaging from MealBag.
On 3 December 2020 the winners will be announced from the published field at a prize-giving ceremony adapted to the prevailing conditions.
Finalists from the „Packaging“ category“
Constantia Flexibles - EcoLam (pioneer)
everdrop - Cleaning agent tabs (pioneer)
Georgia von le Fort - Relics (Visions)
Graf, Amelie - Meal Bag (Visions)
Green future - followers (forerunners)
Kneipp - Velvety soft (forerunner)
Original RePack - RePack (Icons)
Original Unverpackt - Original Unverpackt (Icons)
Song, Youyang - Apeel (Visions)
Werner & Mertz GmbH - Circular packaging from Frosch (Ikonen)
WILDPLASTIC - WILDBAG (pioneer)
PAPACKS - Moulded fibre coffee capsules (Visions)
Brandpack - legacy of chocolate (visions)
Source: German Sustainability Award Design
