At the PIDA 2022 awards ceremony in Gold Coast today, the Australasian Bioplastics Association (ABA), in partnership with the Australian Institute of Packaging (AIP), revealed the winners of the annual Scholarship program for Australia and New Zealand.
The Scholarship program will enable one eligible candidate to undertake a Diploma in Packaging Technology valued at $9000 and give a second person the opportunity to undertake a Certificate in Packaging valued at $7000.
The winner of the first 2022 ABA Scholarship to undertake a Certificate in Packaging is Lea Reynolds, commercialisation manager, Steggall Nutrition.
Reynolds has been working at Steggall Nutrition for the last 11 years and has been primarily responsible for managing the packaging requirements for the clients during her time with the business.
The knowledge that Reynolds has gained through undertaking courses with the AIP over the past few years has also been most invaluable in both her professional and personal life. She struggles to believe that as early as the year 2050 we will be in a global crisis if we don’t find a way to live in a circular economy and to achieve sustainability.
Reynolds believes sustainability is having the ability to meet the needs of our social, economic and environmental requirements without compromising or taking away the same needs and requirements of our future generations. To her, even the smallest of changes can grow into something much bigger.
Through embracing and undertaking further education, she would like to assist in educating others to make more environmentally friendly and sustainable packaging decisions, and more importantly educate her own children who can continue to educate future generations.
For Reynolds, being awarded this invaluable opportunity would mean that she could continue to learn and grow as the industry changes and be confident in the information that she has learned to tackle challenges and to make informed decisions.
The winner of the second 2022 ABA Scholarship, this one to undertake a Diploma in Packaging Technology, is Mark Saturnino, packaging specialist, Woolworths.
Saturnino openly admits that his personal relationship with packaging was not love at first sight. For a long time he considered himself part of that fraction that sees packaging just as a physical form, almost invisible and as someone who didn’t really understand the important role it truly plays. So how did he end up accepting his first job offer, knowing it involved packaging, let alone to be the one responsible in developing its form?
Saturnino realised that his connection with packaging started to brew whilst he was doing his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering. This is where his interest and passion in materials, their end-to-end processing, and the all-encompassing interplay of different sciences became evident to him.
He quickly realised that it was never dull and disengaging to learn about different feedstock substrates and their properties, and the material transformation they take; including the environmental and commercial considerations needed to be mindful of the practical application of these concepts in real life scenarios. Once Saturnino realised this common ground between packaging development and his own interests, he decided making a career in this field.
He believes that undertaking the Diploma in Packaging degree will enable him to truly fill the knowledge voids he has and become closer to his professional goals and personal aspirations. Once completing his degree, Saturnino would like to be seen as an emerging leader in this industry and engage in discussing problems relating to the elimination of Food Waste and Packaging Waste.
