Alupro, the aluminium packaging recycling organisation, has announced the winner of the highly esteemed Student Starpack Awards. Mauricio Rocktaeshel, from Loughborough University, took home first place in the Alupro-sponsored ‘sustainable aluminium personal grooming product & brand’ category, as well as the overall gold award.

Alongside the £500 cash prize, Mauricio also won a trip to the Crown Packaging Global Technology and R&D Centre in Wantage. Here, he will receive a behind the scenes tour of the facility’s brand packaging design and development operations.

As part of his submission, Mauricio created ‘OneElement’, a shaver brand designed to create zero waste. Both the manual razor and its stylish packaging, which doubles as a travel storage case, is made from premium quality 100% recycled aluminium.

Organised by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), the competition challenged university students to identify creative packaging solutions to problems set by leading brands. As part of the sponsorship agreement, Alupro tasked applicants to design a personal grooming product to highlight the sustainability, recyclability, and shelf appeal of aluminium.

Tom Giddings, general manager of Alupro, commented: “We were impressed by all of the competition entries this year, but Mauricio’s design really stood out to the judges. His product and packaging was really well thought out and surpassed the reusability and recyclability element of our brief. What’s more, the brand was strong, and the packaging was highly attractive – a clear demonstration of the shelf appeal of aluminium.

“Not only could we see this product manufactured and stocked by retail outlets, but it could also solve the environmental issue of plastic blister packaging associated with razors. Congratulations, Mauricio!”

Mauricio Rocktaeschel, winner of the Student Starpack Awards, commented: “I am very grateful for winning the award and for the amazing opportunity to visit the R&D centre of Crown packaging in Wantage. Aluminium is a fascinating and versatile material, so I chose the brief because I like its attributes and wanted to explore its manufacturing methods, limitations, and opportunities in packaging applications.

“The project was a lot of fun; I learned a lot and it definitely increased my interest in packaging design. Thank you for the great opportunity and thank you to my friends and tutor for their support.”

For more information about the Starpack awards, visit: www.iom3.org/starpack.