The Pro Carton Young Designers Award is one of the leading annual competitions in Europe for young talents in packaging design. For the third time it was organised in cooperation with the Fachverband Faltschachtel-Industrie e. V. (FFI) and at the same time was awarded the European Awards.
The design idea "fulfil" around the student team Maureen Madou Seel, Mirjam Bauer and Nora Karl enthused the jury so much that the submission won both the European and the German Pro Carton Young Designers Award for the first time. The paper-based packaging developed in the seminar "Packaging Design" at the Faculty of Design of the Münster University of Applied Sciences, the Münster School of Design (MSD), offers an intelligent and sustainable solution to a relevant problem: the packaging and disposal of tampons. As a standard, tampons are produced in plastic tubes and are usually played down in toilets. They clog pipes, end up in rivers and coastal waters, thereby polluting the sea and having harmful effects on the marine environment worldwide.
But what to do with the pulp and plastic pellets? "fulfil" is the name of the creative, innovative approach to solutions made from folding boxboard, which not only fulfils the criterion of sustainability through the packaging material but also consciously influences the entire utilisation cycle from unpacking to disposal. Each individual tampon is accompanied by a folded disposal box and can thus be easily disposed of in the residual waste.
In contrast to conventional tampon packaging, "fulfil" offers everything that the customer needs during the entire usage process and thus guarantees a lasting tampon experience.
"We wanted to break a taboo with this topic - it is relevant, but little is spoken about it", explains Maureen Madou Seel. "The biggest challenge was the development of the folding mechanism, because when the disposal bag was closed, the compartment of the new tampon should open at the same time. And it was very important for us to maintain hygiene standards," adds Mirijam Bauer. "Furthermore, easy and intuitive handling must be guaranteed," adds Nora Karl.
The winners can look forward to an eventful week of practical training at FFI members C.P. Schmidt GmbH, a renowned folding carton manufacturer in Kaiserslautern, and Weig Moritz J. GmbH & Co. KG Kartonfabrik, a board producer in Mayen.
