Colbert Packaging Corporation, a leading manufacturer of folding cartons, rigid paper boxes and paperboard specialty products, announced that it has received prestigious honors in the Flexographic Technical Association’s Excellence in Flexography Awards competition. During a gala banquet held April 28, 2013 as part of the FTA Annual Forum in San Diego, the FTA unveiled the winners and presented Best of Show and Gold Awards to Colbert for the VetGuard Plus version of its patented EnviroGuard solution.

The FTA’s Excellence in Flexography Awards, which have been held annually since 1960, rate the execution and degree of difficulty of entry submissions from every flexographic segment. Colbert’s EnviroGuard package for VetGuard Plus was chosen as the Excellence in Flexography Best of Show winner in the paperboard class. This year, Colbert was one of seven Best of Show winners selected from among 35 Gold winners and 517 total entries across all entry classes.

“It is an honor to have been chosen for this highly coveted award from a pool of many qualified entrants,” says Brad Davis, general manager of Colbert Flexographic Packaging, who was present at the banquet. “VetGuard Plus was the first commercial application for EnviroGuard, and this Best of Show Award lends credence to EnviroGuard’s viability in the market. It’s also a testament to our advanced flexographic capabilities and to our ability to provide consumer goods manufacturers with secure, sustainable and designer-friendly alternatives to plastic clamshells.”

VetGuard Plus — packaged in eight fully customized, paperboard-only versions of EnviroGuard — made its U.S. market debut in 2012 in big box retail and club stores. VetGuard Plus packages are produced on a custom-built CPS CP 585 in Colbert’s flexographic manufacturing facility in Lake Forest, Ill. Colbert’s CP 585 features nine print stations for printing four-color processes and coating both sides of web-fed paperboard (up to 23 inches wide) in a single pass. The press prints water-based and ultraviolet inks, and it can also produce metallic and holographic effects.

EnviroGuard is easily adaptable to consumer goods manufacturers’ specific product and retailing requirements, which made it ideal for VetGuard Plus’ custom retail and club pack varieties. All VetGuard Plus packages consist of treatment applicators, calendar reminder labels, and a printed and micro-folded insert that contains important product information and meets FDA and EPA regulations for veterinary medications. The paper insert was printed and micro-folded by C and H Printing Solutions, a joint venture between Colbert Packaging and Haapanen Brothers.

The VetGuard Plus version of EnviroGuard has also received General Gold, Eco Excellence and Innovation Excellence Awards from the Paperboard Packaging Council, and EnviroGuard is a former winner of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ Sustainable Technology Award.