During the ceremony, all winners of the 2021 edition will be announced, including WorldStar Special Awards, Student Awards and WPO Life Time Achievement Award.

“WPO is always searching and working on creative and innovative solutions to continue interactive with the global packaging community, despite the global pandemic,” says Pierre Pienaar, WPO president.

“That’s why we decided to surprise the audience with a hybrid virtual award ceremony.

“WorldStar is the largest and most important global packaging competition, and the 2021 event registered 194 winners and attracted over 345 entries from 35 countries around the globe.”

The countries most awarded are Japan with 26 awards, followed by China (22), USA (14), Australia and New Zealand (13), and then the Czech Republic and Turkey both at 12 each.

Packages eligible for WorldStar awards are those that have already received a national award recognised by WPO. In Australia and New Zealand, winners of the PIDA awards qualify for WorldStar entry. 

There are 13 finalists in the Special Awards categories – Lifetime Achievement Award, President's Award, Sustainability, Packaging that Saves Food, and Marketing – in addition to the WorldStar Student Award.

The list of finalists for the Special Awards are:

President’s Award finalists:

Label – Rumcajsovka (Etiflex, Czech Republic)
PerFORMing (Mondi Consumer Packaging, Austria)
Lincoln & York’s Recyclable Coffee Packaging (A.Hatzopoulos, Greece)
Packlock (Ideewiss, Switzerland)
Hansol EB (Hansol Paper Co., Korea)
Marketing Award finalists:

Hakutsuru Sake Ukiyo-E Label box series (Rengo Co., Japan)
Multi-functional, Transparent Windowed Food Packaging (Tullpack Ambalaj San ve Tic, Turkey)
Communication Label U-Universe (Rise, Russia)
Sustainability Award finalists:

Jordan Green Clean (Orkla Home & Personal Care, Norway)
KraftPal X Pallet (KraftPal, United Kingdom)
Coca-Cola Amatil rPET Program (Coca-Cola Amatil, Australia)
Packaging that Saves Food Award finalist:

Polymer bottle Vognyar (Fireman) with protection against UV rays (Pack Group, Ukraine) 
A complete list of 2021 WorldStar winners and Special Awards finalists can be found here. 

Entries for the 2022 edition are open from 10 June to 15 October 2021. More information and registration for the ceremony is available on the WorldStar website.