By Ricardo De Genova, SVP, global innovation and new business
Consumers are demanding sustainable packaging solutions. They want a future where the take-make-waste system is eliminated. To meet that challenge head-on, brands must respond by creating packaging that not only comes from renewable resources, but that is also recyclable or compostable.
At Graphic Packaging International, we take that sentiment seriously by implementing measurable action to meet consumer demand. By enabling our customers to achieve their sustainability goals, we are committed to offering consumer packaging that has minimal impact on the environment. As such, we are passionate about creating a more sustainable future and we know that innovation and creativity is needed to deliver on our commitment. With this in mind, we created our first ‘Grand Innovation Challenge’ to engage all our employees in our innovation process.
With over 24,000 employees, Graphic Packaging has a huge pool of creativity – individuals whose work revolves around fiber-based packaging every day. We knew that they could be a great source of ideas to drive our innovation pipeline, developing fresh thinking to help us delight our customers.
We are proud to share that we received many ideas in the challenge, coming from a wide range of functions across the organization and from around the globe. It was great to see the enthusiasm that our colleagues brought to the process.
The competition was judged by a cross-functional panel, who were particularly pleased to see some of the ideas submitted were related to concepts that were already in the Graphic Packaging innovation pipeline. Great minds think alike!
We are delighted to announce that the 2021 Graphic Packaging Grand Challenge winners are:
First Place – 3-way tie:
• David Mann, Pacific, Missouri
• Joshua Vieyra, Kendallville, Indiana
• Eugenio Traballano, Concord, New Hampshire
Second Place – 2-way tie
• Alyssa Denney, St. Paul, Minnesota
• Rebecca Turner, Winsford, UK
Honorable Mention
In addition to the first and second place winning entries, an Honorable Mention award was given to Brandais Markey from the Graphic Packaging Omaha, Nebraska facility. This was awarded for her outstanding concept presentation.
Congratulations to everyone involved and we look forward to running the second edition of the Graphic Packaging International Grand Innovation Challenge in 2022.