• Charles Sturt to host grand final of the University's Sustainable Packaging Innovation Challenge on Wednesday 12 June
  

Months of innovation and expert mentoring will take centre stage in Wagga Wagga and online at the grand final of the Charles Sturt University Sustainable Packaging Innovation Challenge.

The Sustainable Packaging Innovation Challenge, run by the University’s Agrisciences Research and Business Park (AgriPark), encouraged teams to tackle the packaging challenges facing the wine and fresh food industries.

Selected teams were mentored through the decision-making and design process to ensure their solutions meet real-world industry needs, where innovation meets sustainability.

Teams had access to online resources and curators from a diverse range of perspectives from industry, government, commercial entities and research institutions.

Charles Sturt is leading its first initiative tackling the packaging issues facing the wine and fresh food industries. This challenge is supported by Wine Australia, Meat and Livestock Australia, Coles, and Planet Ark.

The intended outcomes of the challenge include making informed decisions that align with market dynamics, broadening the industry’s perspective and unlocking the potential for groundbreaking solutions, choosing solutions with confidence and capitalising on evolving consumer preferences.

Teams worked toward meeting three key challenge statements:

• Develop packaging solutions designed to minimise the carbon footprint at each stage of their life-cycle
• Seek innovations applicable across the industry that improve capturing the value of packaging after its first use
• Create novel packaging products and formats that are environmentally sustainable and appeal to emerging consumer markets.

Teams will present their ideas during a showcase event, to be held at Charles Sturt in Wagga Wagga and streamed online, through a seven-to-eight-minute presentation highlighting their solutions while they seek industry support.

AgriPark Executive Director Mr Nick Pagett said the challenge represents the pinnacle of AgriPark’s commitment to fostering innovation and sustainability.

“The showcase event is not just a celebration of months of hard work and creativity but a testament to the power of collaboration between academia, industry and government,” he said.

“We are excited to see the groundbreaking solutions our teams have developed, which will undoubtedly contribute to a more sustainable future for the wine and fresh food industries.”

The Sustainable Packaging Innovation Challenge Showcase will be held at the Crow Bar at Charles Sturt in Wagga Wagga and online from 3pm on Wednesday 12 June. Free tickets to the event, either in-person or online, can be secured via Humanitix.

The winners will share the $75,000 prize to support further development and market entry of their winning solution.