The entries are in and the judging is complete for The New Zealand Plastics Industry 2014 Design awards.

An electric milk meter, an eco-friendly carpet underlay, a ‘twist-n-sip’ coffee bottle, and a live lobster export box are just a few of the more than 30 products entered in this year’s awards.

Winners will be announced at an industry dinner in Auckland on October 3rd. The Awards acknowledge and promote excellence in the creation, design, production, manufacture, and marketing of plastic products or components.

These biennial awards are an opportunity to showcase an industry renowned for its innovation and entrepreneurial ability.

This year’s range of entries highlight the importance of Plastics as a critical enabler to key sectors in our economy including Food & Beverage, Agricultural, Automotive, Medical, Aquaculture, Building & Construction, Industrial, Consumer and Waste Management. Entries also demonstrate new processing Technologies and Material Development that have been commercialised in the past 2 years.

Entries are judged not only on concept, design, commercial performance and export potential, but to an increasing extent, on sustainable design and manufacturing practices considering the full life cycle of products.

Industry training organisation (ITO) Competenz is the key sponsor for the awards, run by Plastics New Zealand, and Competenz CEO John Blakey says he is looking forward to seeing how the combination of trained employees, kiwi ingenuity and technology have produced world-class products.