The Pentawards recognise global excellence in packaging. This roundup looks only at the 2025 Sustainable Design winners, highlighting the most creative, representative projects across Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze—and how pulp-moulded and fibre-based ideas cut impact without losing brand character.
Platinum Awards
At the top of the Pentawards, breakthrough ideas set the benchmark for where sustainable packaging is heading. In 2025, the Sustainable Design Platinum recognition highlights a project that unites materials science with clear end of life thinking, proving that premium feel and circular performance can coexist. The case below shows how a simple format and precise engineering can turn sustainability into everyday practice.
1. Vivomer Dropper
The Vivomer Dropper from Shellworks transforms cosmetic packaging through materials science. Using a microbially derived polymer called Vivomer, the dropper is home-compostable and engineered to break down within weeks when exposed to the right conditions. Judges praised its elegant form and the way it “disappears” after use. The design shows how bio-based polymers can deliver premium aesthetics while closing the loop.
Gold Awards
Gold winners often balance refined aesthetics with pioneering function. We selected four projects that highlight refillability, playful identity and emerging materials.
1. Hatice Schmidt: refillable lipstick
Designed by Established (USA) for beauty influencer Hatice Schmidt, this lipstick uses a solid aluminium case to create a refill system. The chain-inspired form doubles as jewellery. Customers keep the outer casing and replace only the lipstick bullet, eliminating disposable plastic housings. The sturdy metal can be recycled infinitely, and its premium feel encourages long-term use.
2. BOTITO toy packaging
Argentine studio Tridimage developed BOTITO, a toy brand whose packaging is part of the play experience. Each robot figure arrives in a folding cardboard tray made from recycled pulp that doubles as a base or storage box. The bright graphics invite kids to assemble and reuse the structure, teaching circularity at an early age.
3. Woogie connected packaging
Shanghai Version Design Group’s Woogie introduces a mascot-led brand identity for a line of snacks. The packages feature QR codes and interactive designs that encourage reuse as collectible toys. The mono-material paperboard construction and connected storytelling cut waste by keeping the pack in the user’s hands.
4. Blue Label Ultra
While also a platinum winner, Johnnie Walker’s Blue Label Ultra deserves a gold-level mention for its material reduction. The lightweight glass bottle uses 29 % less glass than its predecessors, and the cradle’s modular wood construction encourages repurposing. This example bridges luxury and sustainability in the mainstream spirits sector.
Silver Awards
The Silver award winners show how brands can scale sustainable materials across categories—from labware to confectionery. Here are four notable projects prioritising pulp and paper.
1. PulpFixin Paper-Based Labware
A layered paperboard system rethinks everyday bench gear—tube racks, pipette-tip trays, cryo boxes—so it ships flat, locks together cleanly after precision die-cutting/laser-cutting, and holds tight tolerances for real lab workflows. Materials are thoughtfully mixed (paperboard, corrugated, greyboard, kraft) for strength and moisture resistance, and assemblies are designed for straightforward recycling or composting. Crucially, the parts are ANSI SLAS 1-2004 compatible, so they drop into automated cappers, de-cappers and liquid-handling lines without process drama. The net effect is lighter storage and freight, less plastic through the system, and a platform recognised with a 2025 Pentawards Silver in Sustainable Design.
2. Extra-Thick Easter Egg Packaging
For chocolatier Hotel Chocolat, the internal design studio created a gift box that feels indulgent yet low-impact. The egg rests in a sculpted fibre mould reminiscent of ceramic, wrapped in a paper outer shell with gold foil accents. The moulded pulp offers strong protection and a premium tactile experience, while all components are mono-material for easy recycling.
3. Johnnie Walker Black Label Paper Bottle
The Black Label Paper Bottle moves whisky into a 90 % paper fibre bottle developed by Paboco and designed by Bulletproof. A thin PET liner keeps the spirit intact, and the outer paper shell is decorated with signature black graphics. The bottle weighs far less than glass, lowering transport emissions, and signals the industry’s shift toward fibre-based primary packaging.
4. Ecover Dishwasher Tablet packaging
Cleaning brand Ecover swapped its plastic tubs for a compact paperboard box with a flip-top lid. The board is uncoated and fully recyclable, while the portion control design reduces product waste. By simplifying the structure and using responsibly sourced fibre, Ecover demonstrates how everyday household goods can embrace low-impact formats.
Bronze Awards
The Bronze level is often where experimental and niche ideas emerge. Our four selections spotlight sustainable materials, storytelling and brand education, with low-impact structures, small-batch prototyping and reuse-friendly formats that turn ideas into everyday habits.
1. Zhi Ying Xiang Shui paper bottle
Zhi Ying Xiang Shui centres a moulded pulp bottle around a clear call to action: “Protect Water as You Protect Life.” Developed by Green Valley, a sustainable luxury packaging solutions provider, the pack spotlights the white-headed langur from Guangxi and links biodiversity loss to freshwater scarcity. By turning the bottle into a portable story and encouraging simple reuse at home for soap or detergent, it makes conservation tangible in daily life. The project earned a Bronze in Sustainable Design at the 2025 Pentawards.
2. CK One Essence launch mailer
Fragrance brand Calvin Klein partnered with twelveNYC to create a mailer for CK One Essence. Inside the box, perfume vials are housed in custom moulded pulp inserts shaped like perfume bottles. The exterior unfolds into a poster featuring campaign imagery, transforming packaging waste into an art piece. This design proves that promotional mailers can be both premium and planet-conscious.
3. Track&Field Sustainable Packaging
FutureBrand São Paulo re-designed the Brazilian activewear brand’s retail and e-commerce packs using recyclable paper with smart fittings and a reduced print area, eliminating plastic where possible. The hexagonal modules nest and stack cleanly for display and compact shipping, so the same parts work from warehouse to storefront. The project won Bronze in Sustainable Design, sub-category Brand identity & connected packaging, at the 2025 Pentawards.
4. Dwell Dripper coffee kit
Verve Coffee’s Dwell Dripper pairs a reusable silicone coffee dripper with a triangular paperboard carrier that folds together without glue. The unique origami-inspired box turns into a handle for easy transport and protects the dripper without plastic void fill. Zenpack’s design emphasises travel-friendliness and reduces shipping volume, showing how geometry can cut waste.
Conclusion: A future built on fibre
Pentawards’ 2025 Sustainable Design winners share a clear direction: purpose first, culture and place as the story engine, and design that teaches simple actions in real life. Brands cut material use with more fibre, fewer mixed laminates, lighter bottles and less ink. Refill and reuse feel normal, connected packs explain sorting or reuse, and accessibility is treated as part of sustainability. Within this shift, molded pulp packaging solutions stand out. Molded pulp now moves beyond egg cartons into luxury confectionery and even drinking water bottles. It uses renewable fibre, forms protective cavities without foams, and stays mono-material for easy recycling or composting. The surface reads premium, parts nest tightly for shipping, and embossing or subtle tinting carries branding with a low footprint. Together, these choices show how clear ideas and clean builds can solve everyday problems while honoring culture and place.
