Launched in 2004, the annual packaging competition tasks full-time students across the continent with designing and creating their own products made from cartonboard.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic, the number of entries received for the 2020 awards increased by nearly 20% year-on-year, with well over 550 cartonboard designs submitted by young designers from 85 schools and universities in 25 different countries across Europe.

There is a choice of four categories to enter; Creative Cartonboard – Food & Drink Packaging, Creative Cartonboard – General Packaging (excluding Food & Drink), Creative Cartonboard Ideas (non-packaging), and Save the Planet, which are ideas that replace less sustainable materials with cartonboard.

A Newcomer’s Award is also available to students from a university that hasn’t previously won. Pro Carton said teachers are invited to make the Young Designers Award a course project to be completed during the academic year, with Pro Carton providing complimentary cartonboard sheets for the students to use.

The five successful students will win a trip to Austria where they will get to see Vienna and will also visit one of Mayr-Melnhof’s mills and obtain practical training at Mayr-Melnhof Packaging.

Last year’s winners included Fulfil, an innovative tampon pack; Zig Zag Zig, a carton for a knife; and a Flour pack with a built-in sieve.

The Save the Planet winner, Cardboard Pads, removed the need for plastic protection such as bubble wrap when shipping goods by using environmentally friendly cartonboard.

Pro Carton general manager Tony Hitchin said: “The Young Designers Award helps educate the next generation of designers about cartonboard’s environmental benefits and adaptability.

“As a result, each year we see entries that apply cartonboard to never-seen-before scenarios and find solutions for challenges we witness today.”

Participation is free of charge and entries should be submitted online before 21 May 2021. Award winners and their teachers will be invited to a gala ceremony that will be held in September, subject to coronavirus-related restrictions.

To enter, and for the competition rules, visit: www.procarton.com/awards/pro-carton-young-designers-award/2021/