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Éco Entreprises Québec applauds the brilliance of three Quebec students at the first-ever Packplay Project, an international packaging design project

Montreal, Quebec, September 17, 2014 – Eco Entreprises Québec (EEQ) would like to congratulate the three winners of the PACKPLAY project, whose names were announced on September 10 at the opening of the exhibition held at UQAM’s Centre de design, with Börkur Bergmann, Director of the Centre de design, Sylvain Allard, the professor in charge of UQAM’s industrial design program, the designer and producer of PACKPLAY, and Maryse Vermette, President and CEO of Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ), major partner of the competition. This packaging design international project attracted more than 176 entries from nine Canadian and international universities. The challenge for students was to create user-friendly packaging, culminating in attractive, intelligent and environmentally responsible products.

Three scholarship students are the big winners of this project:

  • Michèle Beauchamp-Roy, UQAM, who won the $1,500 PACKPLAY Grand Prize for the vodka bottle cooling jacket project “Brrr”

  • Alex Sauvageau, UQAM, who won the $1,000 PACKPLAY Design & Communication Award for the meat packaging project “The grocer”

  • Marine Lastère, University of Montreal, who won the $1,000 PACKPLAY Design & Function Award for an infant formula package made from recycled paper.

Other projects received Coup de coeur mentions from Packaging UQAM in the Recycle and re-use category, among them, this one made from recycled matters:

  • “Si”, an environment friendly condom packaging created by Kim Labonté-Beaudoin from the Université de Montréal

“Today, packaging takes on renewed importance as market requirements and environmental legislation become increasingly demanding,” says Maryse Vermette, President and Chief Executive Officer of ÉEQ. “I marvel at the brilliance of our next-gen designers who apply ecodesign to their work. Thinking about packaging in terms of its users is also increasing its lifespan and its potential for reuse. Coupled with winning strategies such as reduction at the source and the selection of recyclable and eco-friendly materials, this, we now know, is a win-win for everyone.”

ÉEQ is the eco-organization mandated to collect contributions from companies – to the level of $130 millions every year, to finance the municipal curbside recycling collection of the containers, packaging and printed matter that these organizations put on the Quebec market every year. With these investments, ÉEQ also plays an active role in the optimization of the curbside recycling value chain, mostly encouraging the companies it represents to optimize their packaged products or printed matter to increase their recyclability, an approach with economic, competitive and environmental benefits. To this end, ÉEQ guides companies through its portal, OptimEco.ca, an innovative tool which was awarded the Prix Innovation at the Entreprises citoyennes competition sponsored by NOVAE in 2014.

ÉEQ would like to congratulate Sylvain Allard, the driving force behind the first-ever PACKPLAY project, whose reputation and efforts have advanced the creative genius of Quebec designers worldwide. The high number of entries from recognized institutions in Germany, the U.S., Finland, France, Italy, Sweden and Canada, also confirms UQAM’s international leadership. The exhibition, open to the general public until November 2, 2014, is at UQAM’s Centre de design, located at 1440 Sanguinet Street in Montreal.

About Éco Entreprises Québec

Éco Entreprises Québec (ÉEQ) is responsible for developing the Schedule of Contributions and collecting the contributions from companies, which are redistributed to fund Quebec’s municipal curbside recycling services. ÉEQ also encourages innovation and the sharing of best practices to optimize the value chain of recyclable materials. To this end, ÉEQ works with businesses to both reduce the amount at source and promote the use of recyclable materials. In addition, the organization collaborates with municipalities and other stakeholders to increase recycling and the economic value of salvaged materials. ÉEQ, a private non-profit organization created by companies that market containers, packaging and printed matter in Quebec, has been accredited by RECYC-QUÉBEC under the Environment Quality Act since 2005.