WorldStar Student Awards announced

The World Packaging Organisation (WPO) has announced the results of the WorldStar Student Awards 2026, with 30 trophies awarded across five market categories, four special awards and three overall winners.

Finland's Ella Salminen took the overall gold for 'Ease,' a project that incorporates a cardboard utensil into a packaging label to address single-use plastic waste. It marks the second consecutive year a ScanStar student has won the top prize. Christian Alfred Landsberger Glik of Brazil won silver for 'Eco-Dosadora,' an integrated dosing system for flexible fabric softener packaging, while China's Chenxin Li earned bronze for a telescopic accordion-structure bottle design for cold-brewed tea.

The competition received 246 entries from 90 educational institutions across 23 countries, with submissions evaluated by a panel of 43 judges from 31 nations. Participants ranged from undergraduate to master's level, representing disciplines including packaging design, industrial design, food science and engineering.

China, Australia, Ghana, Turkey and Hungary led the trophy count with four each. Key themes identified across submissions included sustainability, design for circularity, ease of use and on-pack communication.

'Students' projects provoke and inspire to leverage innovation, technology and sustainability across the industry,' according to WPO president Luciana Pellegrino. 'These students will be the professionals of the future, and we need to encourage them that it is possible to make a difference and enhance packaging's positive impact in modern life.'

The full list of winners is available at www.worldstarstudent.org