The Industry Packaging Professional of the Year award recognises and acknowledges the outstanding achievements and significant contributions by an individual currently working in the ANZ packaging industry.
Commenting on this category, MC for the PIDA 2021 event, publisher of media partners Food & Drink Business and PKN Packaging News, Lindy Hughson, said: "It really is the people who make our packaging industry what it is, whose efforts enable innovation to continue, bring the training to market that is required for skills development, and provide leadership across their work environments and in important associations like the AIP."
The Industry Packaging Professional of the Year for 2021 was presented to Alan Adams, sustainability director – APAC of Sealed Air.
Just shy of three decades working in the packaging industry, Adams is a recognised and long-term contributor to education around sustainability. His key interests include sustainable packaging design and the positive impact our industry has on food waste, damage reduction, and how packaging can mitigate climate change impact of the food and e-commerce industries.
His passion in this area has not gone unnoticed and he always steps up and helps to provide invaluable expertise to help guide the industry associations that work in this area. Through the AIP, Adams is a part of an expert team that has taken the discussion around circularity and sustainable design, and food waste and save food packaging to a whole new level in Australasia.
He leads many of the Sealed Air sustainability programs that have resulted in seven gold PIDA awards, including Gold in the inaugural program and two more years of the Save Food Packaging Design award category. Two of these designs went on to win WorldStar Global Packaging awards; one of which was the 2020 World Star special Save Food Packaging Design award.
Adams’ contribution to educating and positioning the packaging industry, more specifically the plastic packaging industry in the APAC region, on sustainability is a credit to his passion and love for this industry.
He believes that it is important to promote the great value that this industry delivers in underpinning the lifestyles we all lead through food security and supply chain and e-commerce efficiency. He also strongly advocates that packaging has a wide whole of lifecycle impact based on the capability to protect valuable products.
Receiving the award, Adams said: "To be recognised in this group and in this industry is such a priviledge and an honour, and I'm honestly quite surprised. We're part of an industry that we all should be so proud of, and my challenge to everyone is that we continue to stay true to great design principles, science-based targets around sustainability, and that we bring consumers on this journey with us for the fantastic value that we deliver through the packaging solutions that this industry brings."
Coordinated by the Australian Institute of Packaging, the annual PIDA Awards program recognises companies and individuals who are making a significant difference in their field across Australia and New Zealand. Winners in the company awards announced today are automatically eligible for entry into the 2022 WorldStar Packaging Awards competition.
Four other categories were announced on Day Two:
