Conai announces the winners of Ecopack 2022

On the podium were innovation and love for the environment in a new record year for the competition, which since its inception in 2014 has seen participation increase every year: 383 entries compared to 326 in 2021, from companies who have reviewed their packaging to make it more sustainable and reduce its environmental impact. Five super-awards which used at least one of the seven prevention levers, in other words circular innovation incentives able to make packaging greener (reuse, facilitation of recycling, use of recycled/recovered materials, raw material savings, optimisation of production processes, optimisation of logistics, simplification of the packaging system).

Reuse, new technologies, facilitation of recycling, use of recycled materials and e-commerce

Magic Pack Srl riumphed for its use of recycled material Its polystyrene tray for food-contact uses, previously made from virgin material only, has been redesigned to allow it to be produced with 27.4% recycled XPS. Cuts of around 10% in both water and energy consumption, and CO2 emissions.

In general, the focus on an efficient use of resources is clearly becoming a route which Italy is increasingly embarking on. The packaging produced is constantly becoming lighter: material savings are indeed the most widespread ecodesign lever. But also ever-increasingly frequent are cases of packaging made with recycled material – an increase already recorded in 2021 and confirmed by the 2022 edition.

«We are very satisfied to see that, every year, Italian companies are presenting us with more and more cases of packaging reviewed from a sustainable point of view», said President of CONAI Luca Ruini. «I supported and followed the birth of the competition nine years ago, and the success of this new edition is new confirmation for all of us of how important it is to promote good practice and make it an example to copy. Designing packaging is not simple: we are talking about a complex activity which, if performed well, can certainly help reduce the impact that a piece of packaging can have on the environment over its lifecycle. Ecodesign also allows energy consumption and CO2 emissions to be reduced: this is why, at this time of energy and climate crisis, it is important to try to protect the planet through this tool as well. The winning companies have done that.»

It is estimated that the winning ecodesign interventions have led to reductions of 11% in water consumption, 22% in energy consumption, and 29% in terms of CO2 emissions. All candidates were analysed using the CONAI EcoTool (www.ecotoolconai.org), which uses a simplified LCA process to calculate the effects of the eco-design actions performed by the companies on their packaging through a before and after comparison in terms of water and energy savings and reductions in CO₂ emissions. The complete list of winning companies, as well as the environmental benefits analysis tool, has been verified by the third-party certification body DNV.

The five super awards for circular innovation were chosen by an expanded technical committee composed of Laura Badalucco from IUAV University of Venice, Silvia Barbero from Polytechnic University of Turin, Claudia Chiozzotto from Altroconsumo, Barbara Del Curto from Polytechnic University of Milan, Daniele Faverzani from Legambiente, Clara Giardina from the University of Bologna, and Stefano Lavorini from ItaliaImballaggio.

The news was also reported by:

https://italiaimballaggio.it/fatti-e-dati/bando-conai-lecodesign-2022-episodio-3
https://www.packmedia.net/facts-and-data/conai-2022-eco-design-contest-episode-3

Watch Fabrizio Bernini’s speech when receiving the award for Magic Pack here: