Orora’s Jarbot Reusable Packaging System has been named the winner in the Overall Packaging System Category at the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) Innovator Awards for 2024, held in the US on 5 April.
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition established the Innovator Awards as a way of giving recognition to meaningful contributions and advancements towards more sustainable packaging.
The Overall Packaging Systems category acknowledges solutions that “radically break the mould” of a current packaging category through wholesale redesign, reducing the need for single-use packaging, through reuse and refill offerings.
“We are incredibly honoured to receive this innovation award from SPC for Jarbot,” said Orora Packaging Solutions chief marketing, design, and sustainability officer, Chris Bradley.
“Jarbot is a reuse-optimised packaging system that can be shared by a multitude of brands to store a wide range of products. It has been designed to solve fundamental problems faced by consumer-packaged goods (CPG) brands and retailers when scaling their reusable packaging initiatives,” Bradley said.
The Jarbot is a hybrid between a jar and a bottle for FMCG and other consumer-focused products. Designed to be a highly flexible re-usable and re-fillable product, the intent behind Jarbot is to build scale for re-usable products – that is, reduce logistics costs involved with re-filling and returning greater volumes.
“In order for reusable CPG packaging to achieve scale, it is critical to drive down the costs of collection, cleaning and refilling to levels that are close to the cost of single use packaging.
“This will require breakthroughs in packaging design and cooperation across brands and companies. Scaling reuse for CPG brands is the long-term goal and we feel confident that Jarbot is a major step in the right direction.
“There are a broad range of consumer-packaged goods that could eventually benefit from Jarbot, including prepackaged foods & beverages, personal care, beauty and cleaning products. This solution could be considered for products ranging from nut butters and jellies to shampoos and body lotions.”
The awards are judged by a committee consisting of SPC Executive Committee members, Paul Nowak, executive director of renowned sustainability advisory GreenBlue, as well as external guest judges from university, consultancy, or design agency representatives with significant expertise in a particular category.
