At the Australasian Packaging Conference, run by the Australasian Institute of Packaging earlier this month, women working at the intersection of education, research and innovation, shared their personal journeys and professional contributions to sustainable packaging.
As moderator of this session, it drove home to me the value of applied research, packaging education, and cross-sector collaboration in solving real-world challenges. For those who missed the event, here's what we covered:
Balancing life, learning and packaging
Jess O’Donnell, who recently transitioned from a corporate marketing role at Close the Loop to working in a small family-run perfume business, shared her experience of studying for the AIP Certificate in Packaging while navigating multiple life changes.
“Flexible study was essential for me – but that same flexibility meant I had to learn to manage procrastination, time and mental load,” she said, reflecting on juggling her studies while getting married, moving interstate, and selling a home. Despite setbacks including Covid and missed exam windows, O’Donnell persisted and completed the course in 18 months.
What surprised her most was the direct applicability of her studies. “I wasn’t expecting it to be as useful so soon, but even in a completely different sector like fragrance, the product development and packaging knowledge has already saved us from a few disasters,” she said.
Reducing food waste through better design
Dr Ruby Chan, a research fellow at RMIT University, presented insights from her award-winning PhD on how packaging can help reduce household food waste. Her research, conducted in partnership with Fight Food Waste CRC and the Australasian Institute of Packaging, involved a 15-year literature review, a comparison of industry and academic packaging solutions, and interviews with consumers and manufacturers.
“A key finding was how little usability testing is conducted with consumers,” said Chan. “Packaging often fails to meet real-world needs simply because there’s not enough consumer feedback built into the design process.”
Her work calls for stronger feedback loops between industry and consumers, as well as embedding food waste reduction in packaging design briefs. “It’s not just about the pack – it’s about helping people finish the food once it’s opened.”
Cold chain lessons from a cherry case study
Packaging and logistics veteran Nicole Roy, now with emball’ iso, shared a practical case study drawn from her Diploma in Packaging project. Tasked with solving spoilage issues during the high-value cherry season, she applied cold chain packaging principles to improve product integrity during transport.
Her testing process involved sending strawberries – used as a stand-in for cherries – across Australia with and without appropriate cooling systems. The results were clear: without insulation and coolant, produce arrived spoiled.
“The lightbulb moment came when we brought all the stakeholders into one room – marketing, operations, quality, and production,” said Roy. “Suddenly everyone understood that poor handling and inappropriate packaging weren’t just minor issues – they were hitting the bottom line.”
Despite presenting a proven solution, Roy acknowledged that in some cases, cost concerns still override sustainable or quality-driven decisions. “The dollar still speaks louder than food waste prevention,” she said. “But it doesn’t mean we stop pushing.”
Turning food waste into biodegradable packaging
Rounding out the panel was Mel Nguyen, a PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide, who is developing biodegradable films made from food waste including mushroom stems, potato peels and lobster shells.
Using a casting process in the lab, Nguyen and her team have created bioplastics with promising water and oxygen barrier properties, as well as strong but flexible mechanical performance. One of the film's most promising features is its tunability – the ability to adjust its properties by modifying the composition or drying conditions. “By changing variables like the drying temperature, we can alter flexibility, moisture resistance and tensile strength,” Nguyen explained. “This allows us to tailor the film for different applications – whether for fresh produce, dry snacks, or even meat.”
She has already tested the film in packaging for beef mince, finding comparable performance to traditional plastics in preserving moisture content and inhibiting bacterial growth. The bioplastic is also transparent with a uniform surface, and is made entirely from food waste, making it bio-based, biodegradable, food-safe, and cost-effective.
Now in the final year of her PhD, Nguyen is focused on testing soil biodegradability, expanding trials across various food types, and developing smart packaging features – including colour-changing indicators to signal spoilage. “We’re looking to collaborate with industry partners to help scale up production through extrusion, which would integrate more easily into existing packaging lines,” she said.
Education, collaboration, and commitment
Throughout the discussion, a consistent message emerged: education is a powerful enabler, and its real value is realised when applied to industry challenges.
As noted in my closing remarks, “The work these women are doing underscores why education must remain central to industry progress – it’s the foundation for innovation, collaboration and real-world impact.”
The session closed with an invitation to the upcoming PKN Women in Packaging Awards 2025 luncheon event on 27 June, a celebration of the talent and leadership shaping the future of the industry. Dr Ruby Chan and Mel Nguyen are both finalists in the 2025 awards programme.
