Graphic Packaging Secures Double Win at WorldStar Awards 2026

Graphic Packaging is celebrating success at this year’s prestigious WorldStar Global Packaging Awards.  

Hosted by the World Packaging Organisation, these awards honor top achievers in the packaging industry, as entrants must first win a recognized national award to qualify for entry. Graphic Packaging, a global leader in sustainable consumer packaging, has been acknowledged for its collaborations with UK retail giant Sainsbury’s and food producer Pilgrim’s Europe on their PaperSeal Shape™ tray range for breaded chicken and for its innovative tray solution for fresh produce, the ProducePack™ Punnet tray.

Advancing Circularity, Functionality, and Convenience in Fresh Protein Packaging: The Award-Winning Sainsbury’s PaperSeal™ Shape Tray 

The PaperSeal™ Shape tray reduces plastic by 72-82% per tray, resulting in the elimination of approximately 300 metric tonnes of plastic a year from Sainsbury’s supply chain. It’s comprised of nearly 90% renewable raw materials, and is recyclable in household waste streams according to the UK’s OPRL recycling guidelines.

A common barrier to the adoption of paperboard packaging as a replacement for plastic is the capital cost and potential impacts on operational efficiency. To overcome this, PaperSeal Shape was designed to run on plastic tray filling and sealing equipment at the same speeds as plastic trays. It’s also quick to switch between plastic and PaperSeal Shape, further enhancing flexibility for Pilgrim’s Europe.

PaperSeal Shape was also designed to perform through the supply chain. The double flange construction delivers a rigid tray with excellent hermetic seal integrity, ensuring the trays and their fresh contents reach Sainsbury’s in great condition.

From the consumer’s perspective, the PaperSeal Shape tray delivers equivalent performance to Sainsbury’s previous plastic tray. Research shows that consumers overwhelmingly prefer paperboard packaging to plastic, with “easy to recycle” cited as the most important feature (ProCarton,2025). Because the tray contains less than 10% plastic, it can be recycled with the barrier liner in place, enhancing convenience for the consumer and promoting recycling compliance.

In addition to the WorldStar Awards, the PaperSeal Shape Tray has won a number of other prestigious awards:

ProducePack™ Punnet Tray 

Launched by several major European retailers as a replacement for PET trays, the ProducePack™ Punnet tray is ideal for berries, grapes, tomatoes, mushrooms, and baby sweet peppers. Its adoption has led to the removal of approximately 17 million plastic trays per year by one UK retailer for berries alone. 

The tray impressed the judges with its exceptional circularity profile: 

• Can meet the SUPD plastic-free definition (depending on raw materials selected) and is also expected to enable retailers and fresh produce packers to comply with the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulations on single-use plastic packaging for unprocessed fresh produce under 1.5kg  

• Over 85% sustainably sourced renewable material  
• Meets UK OPRL guidelines for recyclability in household waste streams and the requirements for collection with paper & cardboard packaging waste in the rest of the EU 
• Passed the CEPI recyclability test with a score of 90, demonstrating best-in-class performance for printed packaging 
• Classified as “green” in the UK recyclability assessment methodology (RAM) 
• Compatible with reprocessing in conventional paperboard manufacturing facilities according to 4evergreen circularity by design guidelines 
• Lower carbon footprint than virgin PET trays¹ 

The ProducePack Punnet tray supports Graphic Packaging’s aim to create packaging solutions that are not only more circular but also more functional, and more convenient than replaced alternatives. It’s engineered to run on existing plastic tray forming and sealing equipment, removing a major economic barrier to adopting more circular solutions. Available in a range of paperboards, coatings, and top films, the punnet tray is available from stock or can be customized with high-impact, high-quality graphics. 

Extending Shelf Life and Reducing Waste 

The punnet tray has been shown to extend shelf life by significantly slowing mold growth² compared to plastic trays — a benefit valued by both retailers and consumers. 

Setting a New Benchmark 

The development of the ProducePack Punnet tray is demonstrable proof that paperboard alternatives to plastic not only deliver on sustainability promises, but can also outperform traditional solutions in functionality and convenience — setting a new benchmark for circular packaging in the fresh produce sector.