Head of Pentawards Adam Ryan joins other design experts to talk to Creative Review about the future of sustainable design and tackling the intricacies of sustainable packaging.

The piece followed on from the latest IPCC report which emphasised the impact of human activity on the planet, and explores the role of packaging and sustainable design around this.

In the article, Adam explains that corporations, suppliers, manufacturers, and design agencies need to come together to address the climate concerns, re-evaluate current supply chains and explore new materials. But who's going to lead this change?

“It has to be one of these large brands or corporations, who’ve got the infrastructure and the funds, and they say, ‘right, like Silicon Valley. We’re going to create a sustainable valley for packaging. It’s about producing a factory and a manufacturing set up which is completely based on a new way of producing packaging and materials and the logistics of it all.”

The desired outcome would be to see huge corporations, brands, design agencies, manufacturers and suppliers working together rather than implementing their own isolated intiatives. We are already starting to see some of these working together, and knowing the power designers hold to spark a packaging revolution, the interviewees are optimistic.

Above: Evian’s ‘no label’ water bottle, made using recycled and recyclable plastic (except the cap) has been shortlisted in this year's Sustainable Design category

Header image: Sustainable Barley Straw Secondary Packaging for Corona by AB InBev Global Innovation and Technology Center (GITEC), shortlisted in this year's Sustainable Design category

Refillable deodorant for Wild by Morrama, shortlisted in this year's Sustainable Design category

At Pentawards we are always looking to galvanise, inspire and connect the global packaging community and to find the areas in which we can grow as an industry. And now, more than ever, sustainable packaging has become the leading priority. And for good reason.

With this in mind, after 2 years as a sub-cateogry, this year we launched the Sustainable Design category dedicated to pushing the boundaries and innovations within this field. The new category is also supported by a new Sustainable Design Jury , made up of sustainable design experts from companies such as UPM Raflatac, Colgate and Stranger & Stranger, helping to provide a 360 review of the effectiveness of the entries.

To read more on this from Adam Ryan as well as Echo’s Creative Director and Co-Founder Andrew Capper, and Creative director at design studio Path Chris Forecast, head to the full subscription article on Creative Review here .