DuPont, Wilmington, Del., presented 16 awards recognizing packaging excellence at last night’s 26th DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation, the industry’s longest-running, global, independently judged competition highlighting innovative packaging solutions and collaboration throughout the value chain.

This year, the program received nearly 200 entries from 31 countries, marking the second-highest number of entries and broadest reach in the program’s 26-year history.

A panel of international judges presented the top honor, the Diamond Award, to Unilever, (United Kingdom) for its line of compressed deodorants. The judges recognized Unilever for excellence in all three award criteria—technological advancement, responsible packaging and enhanced user experience.

The judges also selected five gold winners and 10 silver winners representing 11 countries. Gold Award recipients demonstrate excellence in any two of the criteria, while Silver Award recipients show excellence in any one of the criteria.

“The Packaging Awards continue to celebrate innovation and champion collaboration,” said William J. Harvey, president, DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers. “We updated the award categories this year to reflect emerging trends and amplify the consumer’s role in driving innovation.”

Among the Gold Award winners was Plastipak Packaging Inc. (U.S.), which won for technical advancement and responsible packaging. The company’s Direct Object Printing enables manufacturers to print ink directly onto bottles and the shoulder of any plastic container. It also can print full-panel graphics.

Clear Lam Packaging Inc. (U.S.) won a Silver Award for responsible packaging for its peanut package for John B. Sanfilippo and Sons Inc. (pictured above) The PrimaPak package is a flexible, recloseable, pop-up box made from a single roll of flexible film and enhanced with an outer label that adds vertical strength and rigidity.

Receiving a Silver Award for technological advancement was Curwood (U.S.), for the Hillshire Brands Heat Fresh horizontal form-fill-seal package (pictured right), which keeps bread soft and moist, while heating the rest of the sandwich evenly and thoroughly in the original package.

For additional information about DuPont and its commitment to inclusive innovation, please visit www.dupont.com.