PLASTIC FREE AWARD

In 2019, Dieline Awards partnered with A Plastic Planet to launch the world’s first Plastic Free Award for sustainable, plastic-free packaging. Together, we want to recognize the innovation and efforts of designers and brands for creating the solutions of tomorrow, today.

A total of 4 winners will be recognized. A Plastic Planet will award 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, while the top-scoring Plastic Free project from the Plastic Free category will win the coveted Plastic Free Innovation of the Year Award for its outstanding work and contribution to plastic-free based package designs over the past year.

A Plastic Planet are global pro-social change-makers. Together we have a single goal, to ignite and inspire the world to turn off the plastic tap. A Plastic Planet works collaboratively with industry, Governments, the UN, and legislators to dramatically reduce the misuse of plastic, particularly when it's used to package food and drink.

WHO EVALUATES THE PLASTIC FREE AWARD?

All Plastic Free packaging entered into the Sustainable Design Category will receive a thorough and careful evaluation from APP's panel of world experts in plastic-free packaging materials.

WHAT MATERIALS QUALIFY FOR THE PLASTIC FREE AWARD?

Packaging that is 99% free of conventional plastic*, including the glues, labels, and inks, qualifies for the Award.

WHO QUALIFIES?

Any packaging that is a minimum of 99% conventional plastic-free. That includes glues, labels, and inks, as well as the base materials themselves.

Packaging made from wood, carton board, paper, pulp, glass, metal, grass, algae, seaweed, plant cellulose, agricultural waste and mushroom derivatives, and other biomaterials. You must include all appropriate sustainable certifications (i.e., FSC, PEFC). Any compostable materials must have relevant compliance certification (i.e., EN 13432 for Europe, ASTM 6400 USA, OK Home Compostable)

TRADITIONAL MATERIALS

Metal, paper, carton board, and glass are also plastic-free. Aluminum, tin, and glass can be recycled in an infinite loop. Paper, sustainably sourced through FSC™ or PEFC™ certification, can also be recycled and is one of the most all-around versatile packaging materials. Steel and tin plate cans are, of course, free of plastic but often have plastic linings.

WHAT MATERIALS DO NOT QUALIFY?

CONVENTIONAL PLASTICS

For absolute clarity, we call the following three groups "Conventional Plastic," as they all take hundreds of years to break down into micro-plastics and nano-plastics that are damaging our marine life and polluting our planet at an unprecedented rate.

1. Fossil Fuel Plastics: This is what we see everywhere – PET, PS, PVC, PP, PE, etc. The substrate is derived from oil.

2. "Sustainable Bio-Plastics" or "drop-in bio-plastics:" This group of ‘bio-plastics’ is derived from plants, frequently sugarcane. Once made into plastic, these particular bio-plastics have the same chemical structure as fossil-fuel plastics and the same indestructible qualities lasting in our environment for centuries. Not to be confused with certified compostable bio-materials.

3. Oxo-biodegradable plastics: Already banned in many countries, oxo-biodegradable plastics may sound good but are now known to simply degrade down faster to tiny plastic fragments, i.e., microplastics. Biodegradable is a very misused and misleading descriptor often used to greenwash.