MAIN AWARD CATEGORIES
The Awards to be presented will be determined as follows
WorldStar Student Award Overall Winners
The top three highest-scoring entries will be awarded medals and certificates in order of their ranking - WPO WorldStar Student Gold Medal, Silver Medal, and Bronze Medal
WorldStar Student Certificates of Merit
The next ten highest scoring entries will receive WorldStar Student Certificates of Merit
SPECIAL AWARDS
The Marketing Appeal Awards
The three entries ranked highest on the criteria of marketing appeal will be awarded the following medals and certificates - Marketing Appeal Gold, Silver and Bronze. The judges will be looking for entries that have design appeal, that is feasible, fit-for-purpose, communicate and inform, add value, would have a special purchase appeal, or that have a particularly unique and appealing concept.
The Sustainability Awards
The three entries ranked highest on the criteria of sustainability will be awarded the following medals and certificates - Sustainability Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The judges will be looking for packaging concepts that demonstrate and support the pursuit of global environmental sustainability and packaging that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The successful entries will probably involve the concept of one more of the four 'R's of packaging - Reduce, Recycle, Recover, Re-Use.
The Save Food Packaging Awards
The three entries ranked highest on the criteria of 'Save Food' will be awarded the following medals and certificates - Save Food Gold, Silver, and Bronze. The WPO has stated that a quarter of the food that is currently lost and wasted would already be sufficient to feed the starving world population. About 1.3 billion tons of food is actually thrown away each year, either because it spoils due to incorrect storage or inappropriate transport methods or because it no longer meets the standards of the trade and consumers. Furthermore, a lot of food is left uneaten by consumers because, for example, the quantities purchased by them are too large. Studies have shown that in less developed countries food tends to be lost at pre-harvest, harvest and initial handling phase. With increasing development food waste tends to move up the distribution chain to retail and consumption level. Here food is more likely thrown away when still edible.