NTU Product Design students shine at the 2026 WorldStar Global Packaging Awards
A total of 18 NTU Product Design students were recognised at this year’s WPO WorldStar Student Global Packaging Awards including collecting two silver awards.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 5 February 2026
Product Design students from Nottingham Trent University (NTU) who were successful in the 2025 Starpack Students competition were invited to take part in the WPO WorldStar Global Packaging Awards - a competition designed to encourage and showcase the talents of students as well as new innovations and thinking in the field of packaging.
This year there were 246 entries from 90 educational institutions across 23 countries entered in to the competition that were assessed in several categories. Students were challenged to communicate the potential benefit of their design packaging solution whilst being assessed on the degree of innovation, sales appeal/graphical appearance, sustainability, ease of processing/manufacturing, functionality, efficiency and overall impression.
AvoCard aims to provide a sustainable approach to luxury packaging.
In total NTU students won 18 awards across multiple categories including Silver Awards In ‘Beverages Packaging’ and ‘Speciality Packaging’ categories. In addition, NTU received the highest number of awards out of all of the UK institutions in the competition for the third year in a row.
Dr Luke Siena, Senior Lecturer in Product Design, who led the students through their projects/entries, said:
“The WPO WorldStar Global Packaging Awards competition gives our students a great platform to showcase their creativity, competing not only with top talent from across the UK, but also with outstanding emerging designers from around the world. We are proud that the judges have once again recognised the exceptional standard of our students’ work, with some truly impressive and innovative packaging designs being produced.”
The packaging is made using a food industry by-product.
Georgia Fathers, who was awarded a silver medal in the ‘Specialty Packaging’ category for her project AvoCard (pictured left and above), said:
"My project focused on the design of a packaging material that transforms a food industry by-product into a luxury. With its rich, leather-like texture, biodegradable composition, and premium finish, AvoCard elevates packaging and user experience. It empowers brands to align luxury with responsibility, and consumers to choose packaging that protects the planet while preserving the essence of quality.
"Being honoured with a World Star Student Silver Award is an amazing moment. It is incredible to see an eco-friendly design gain global recognition. This whole process has been amazing and inspiring, from the first experiments in the materials lab to winning the brief sponsored by Winter and Company at Star Pack Students 2025, and then this award. I hope this achievement will encourage more young designers to explore sustainable solutions and it has certainly motivated me to keep pushing forward in this field. I’m deeply grateful to NTU for their support throughout the process and for continually helping me grow through opportunities like this”.
The bottles are stackable, reusable and recyclable.
Among the other winners was Ben Macvean who won the Silver medal in the 'Beverages' packaging category for Ribena Forever (main image, above, and picture right). He said:
“Ribena Forever is a closed-loop Beverage container system which was designed for a Starpack Students competition brief last year, sponsored by Suntory. The bottles are stackable, reusable and recyclable. Its unique space-saving, stackable design reduces logistical costs for retailers by minimising transport volume and simplifying in-store merchandising.
"I am honoured that my project has been recognised at the international level. I would like to thank my lecturers at NTU for all their support during my time on the course so far. This award gives me confidence that the course is providing high quality and relevant product design skills, helping me become a designer who can make a positive impact on the world."
Congratulations to all the students recognised in this years’ competition:
Silver Award In ‘Beverage’ Category: Ben Macvean
Silver Award In ‘Speciality Packaging Category: Georgia Fathers
Finalist Certificates: Kieran Bajraktari, Joanne Chartouni, Melissa Cornet-Clark, Freddie Flanders, Kate Gonsalves, Jonathan Holme, Huda Ismail, Daniel Laverick, Shu-Ting Li, Alicia Lim, Z McLeish, Nena Nwojo, Eleanor Pinkerton, Oliver Smithee, Evie Walker, Samuel Walker.
To see more, take a look at the winner’s brochure showcasing all the student’s project work.