The Flexible Packaging Association (FPA), the leading advocate and voice for the growing U.S. flexible packaging industry, is pleased to announce the winners of its 68th Annual Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards Competition. 

The winning entries were recognized during the FPA Welcome Dinner & Flexible Packaging Achievement Awards Ceremony held Wednesday, March 20, 2024, in conjunction with the 2024 FPA Annual Meeting (March 20-22) at the Loews Ventana Canyon Resort in Tucson, Arizona.

For this year’s competition, FPA received a historic number of entries—106 package entries were submitted, with a total of 332 entries (some packages were entered into multiple categories). Twenty-two packages were honored with 37 Achievement Awards.

Special thanks are given to the 2024 competition judging panel: Danny Beard, President, Packaging Specialists; Chelsey Quick, VP, Client Success, Industry Intelligence Inc.; and Dr. Bruce Welt, Professor, Packaging Engineering, University of Florida.

The transition of products previously packaged in rigid containers to flexible packaging was demonstrated in several of the competition entries. Quick observes, “I loved some of the conversions from rigid to flexible. We're seeing some interesting applications of bringing new products into the flexibles space, which is exciting for everyone.”

Sustainability continues to be a focus of the competition. “We saw a lot of sustainable packages, but the definition of sustainability is open to interpretation, which is fair,” notes Beard. “The different types of sustainable packages and the different kinds of films that are considered sustainable are really what sets this group of products apart.”

Welt states, “One particularly interesting entry involved chemical advanced recycling and mass balance accounting. This is going to be increasingly important for the sustainability side of things.” The judges also noted an increased number of recyclable structures for medical and hospital products.

The judges also remarked upon the printing quality and shelf impact of this year’s entries, and a handful of entries were deemed worthy of framing. According to Beard, “Some of the really interesting printing techniques that were used and some of the ways that they use both the printing and the lamination of the packaging together to make the package pop was unique.”

Packaging Strategies and Flexible Packaging will showcase selections from the 2024 FPA Achievement Awards at its 2024 Global Pouch Forum, which will be held May 29-31 in Clearwater, Florida.

In the meantime, we share here the top award bestowed by FPA.

HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: WD-40 Specialist® EZ-Pods Pouch Family 

The Highest Achievement Award is evaluated by the judges as possessing overall packaging excellence, significant attributes in all award categories, and contributing most to the advancement of the industry.

A household name in the chemical industry since 1953, WD-40 Company products are well known for their iconic aerosol packaging. In 2023, the company broke from that tradition by launching WD-40 Specialist® EZ-Pods, a degreasing product in a pod format—in sustainable flexible packaging. 

Without sacrificing performance, cost, or aesthetics, WD-40 settled on two recyclable flexible packaging formats: a stand-up pouch with a child-resistant closure and a sample-sized three-sided sealed pouch. Both options are recyclable through store drop-off collection services.