After a successful first edition, SCA Packaging continues to encourage young talents to present their innovative ideas to the packaging industry. Design Challenge 2009 kicked off on November 1st 2009. This year’s challenge: create a lean, slick,’ ‘fat free’ packaging design, taking complexity out and leaving the lowest environmental footprint possible.

Some 500 students out of 23 countries in Europe subscribed to the SCA Packaging Design Challenge last year. In the end, 90 concepts were submitted out of which 10 were short listed. Two participants were even offered a full time position at SCA.

“We want to build on the momentum of last year’s event” says Katia Schotte, Communications Director at SCA Packaging, “It is clear that our target audience of young potentials is eager to demonstrate their capabilities and willing to take on the challenge.”

Participants will need to come up with a lean, smart, ‘fat free’ packaging solution for any existing product that can be bought in retail today. They need to combine innovation with sustainability and need to operate on the principle: ‘designed with the minimum of material it takes’, whilst maintaining performance. The designs should be outspoken, clearly demonstrating a different approach to conventional thinking.

“This year’s challenge is not segment specific but will take a broad perspective” adds Wim Wouters European Design Director, “as a full service packaging provider, we focus on innovative design that takes consumer and industry trends as well as the ecological footprint of each packaging concept into account.”

Participants in the SCA Packaging Design Challenge 2009 will get the chance to work with industry professionals, to pitch their work to well-established designers and to win up to €3000 in cash and an internship at the SCA Packaging.

Design Challenge ‘09 will run until April ‘10. Submissions will be accepted until January 31st 2010.