Metsä Board has announced the winner of the Better with Less - Design Challenge its international packaging design competition. The winner, ‘Expandable Eco Street Food Ware’, offers an alternative to the use of plastic and styrofoam to address the growing demand for street and fast food packaging.

The paperboard container is 10 inches in diameter when laid flat and can be folded up to eight different ways ranging from a cone to a plate. The simple design therefore has many applications and can accommodate many types of food. Besides saving material, the design minimises the space occupied by the container during storage as well as in disposal and recycling.

The Expandable Eco Street Food Ware was designed by Christine Gamboa, a Senior Art Director, and Gaudy Danao III, an Associate Creative Director, both from the Philippines. Christine and Gaudy will receive the main prize of 7,000 euros.

“The winning design is a simple, smart and practical solution offering high variability with minimal material use - reflecting “Better with Less” at its best. It provides a good user experience and is truly environmentally friendly and economical. Made of a plastic-free barrier board it is easily recyclable, compostable and biodegradable,” says the competition’s chairman, and the member of the jury, Ilkka Harju, Packaging Services Director at Metsä Board.

The winner of the second prize, 2,000 euros, is ‘Bruk’, a sustainable beverage carton that can be easily recycled with reduced plastic content, designed by Eric Smith from the United States.

The third prize, 1,000 euros, went to ‘Razor’ that replaces standard plastic packaging by a minimalist paper box that covers only the razor heads while leaving the handles uncovered. The design was created by Magdalena Schmitz, Sarah Redlich, Mikayla Just and Alejandro Don Flores, all students in product design at the Münster School of Design.

“In the winning designs sustainability and circular economy aspects were well considered and innovatively implemented, and the competition between the top three was very tight. There were many inspiring solutions reflecting a shift in consumer trends from plastic towards more sustainable packaging materials. In some designs, the packaging had a dual role, becoming a part of the product when using it, which further strengthens the circularity of packaging,” adds Ilkka Harju.

Metsä Board also offered an additional prize of an internship for one student at its new upcoming Paperboard and Packaging Excellence Centre in Finland. ‘Reload’ that allows the storage and sorting of full and empty batteries in the same package won the judges over in the student category. The package is designed by Hamzeh Za’balawi, Franziska Prior, Marcel Diederich and Oliver Ricker. In addition, an honorary mention went to Jasper Chou’s Project FF that is a sustainable glueless container for French fries and ketchup.

As many as 146 entrants from 28 countries joined the 2019 - 2020 edition of the Better with Less - Design Challenge with their ideas. The jury included packaging design influencers from around the world.