Awards & Sector forum
The Sector Forum invites thought-provoking insight and discussion on the future of the industry before we celebrate achievements over the past two years.
Recognising organisations delivering real-world circular packaging outcomes, not just ambition. We celebrate those stepping up to the challenge, demonstrating measurable impact, transparency and systemic contribution.
Open to all APCO Members. Represent your organisation, hear updates from APCO leadership and contribute to important decisions at this year’s AGM.
Open to all APCO Members, providing you with a unique opportunity to have a voice in important decisions.
The APCO Biennial Awards and Sector Forum combines two major events into a flagship calendar highlight where representatives across the packaging sector are invited to join in forward-thinking discussion and celebration for good work.
The day is divided into two parts:
Together, they provide a national platform for attendees from industry, government and across the entire packaging value chain to come together and share progress, exchange ideas and celebrate achievements.
The APCO Annual General Meeting will also be held at the same venue the following morning for Members to attend.
“Putting circularity to work” reflects the sector’s transition to a more accountable era, where circularity is no longer an aspirational goal – but an operational necessity.
The Sector Forum unpacks the theme of circularity, where we are now and where we are headed. It explores how major trends in the packaging sector, including rising performance expectations, evolving regulatory requirements and an increasing emphasis on accountability, influence the decisions businesses must make to put circularity into operation and translate intention into action.
This year’s Awards centres around the theme by recognising organisations already embedding circularity into decisions, systems and measurable outcomes, with the evidence to support performance, transparency and accountability in practice.
Can I purchase a ticket at the event?
No. For catering and security requirements all tickets must be purchased prior to the close of sales, at the end of November.
I’m not an APCO Member, can I still attend?
Yes! We have opened this year’s Sector Forum and Awards Night and encourage representatives across the sector, including non-Members to attend. The APCO Annual General Meeting held the following day remains APCO Members only.
What if I’m unable to attend?
If you are unable to attend, you may transfer your ticket to another person in your organisation. To do so, edit your ticket order information with the name and email address of the new attendee prior to the event. A substitute delegation fee of $25 will be charged.
Photography, videography and audio recording may take place throughout the events for marketing, communications, reporting, educational and promotional purposes.
By attending the event, attendees acknowledge that APCO, its partners and authorised media representatives may capture photographs, video footage and recordings in which attendees may appear. These materials may be used across APCO’s communications channels, including websites, social media, publications, reports, presentations, future event promotion and industry engagement activities.
If you do not wish to be photographed or filmed, please notify an APCO staff member at registration or contact the Events Team prior to the event. While APCO will make reasonable efforts to accommodate requests, it may not be possible to avoid capturing individuals in crowd or networking scenes.
The APCO Biennial Awards and Sector Forum combines two major events into a flagship calendar highlight where representatives across the packaging sector are invited to join in forward-thinking discussion and celebration for good work.
The day is divided into two parts:
Together, they provide a national platform for attendees from industry, government and across the entire packaging value chain to come together and share progress, exchange ideas and celebrate achievements.
The APCO Annual General Meeting will also be held at the same venue the following morning for Members to attend.
“Putting circularity to work” reflects the sector’s transition to a more accountable era, where circularity is no longer an aspirational goal – but an operational necessity.
The Sector Forum unpacks the theme of circularity, where we are now and where we are headed. It explores how major trends in the packaging sector, including rising performance expectations, evolving regulatory requirements and an increasing emphasis on accountability, influence the decisions businesses must make to put circularity into operation and translate intention into action.
This year’s Awards centres around the theme by recognising organisations already embedding circularity into decisions, systems and measurable outcomes, with the evidence to support performance, transparency and accountability in practice.
Can I purchase a ticket at the event?
No. For catering and security requirements all tickets must be purchased prior to the close of sales, at the end of November.
I’m not an APCO Member, can I still attend?
Yes! We have opened this year’s Sector Forum and Awards Night and encourage representatives across the sector, including non-Members to attend. The APCO Annual General Meeting held the following day remains APCO Members only.
What if I’m unable to attend?
If you are unable to attend, you may transfer your ticket to another person in your organisation. To do so, edit your ticket order information with the name and email address of the new attendee prior to the event. A substitute delegation fee of $25 will be charged.
Photography, videography and audio recording may take place throughout the events for marketing, communications, reporting, educational and promotional purposes.
By attending the event, attendees acknowledge that APCO, its partners and authorised media representatives may capture photographs, video footage and recordings in which attendees may appear. These materials may be used across APCO’s communications channels, including websites, social media, publications, reports, presentations, future event promotion and industry engagement activities.
If you do not wish to be photographed or filmed, please notify an APCO staff member at registration or contact the Events Team prior to the event. While APCO will make reasonable efforts to accommodate requests, it may not be possible to avoid capturing individuals in crowd or networking scenes.
The Awards are open to APCO Members only. Entries are welcome from:
All entries must demonstrate initiatives and projects that have been implemented within the previous two years. Submissions that include concepts, early‑stage pilots or other activities that are yet to be implemented and not have evidence of impact will not be considered.
Yes, an entry fee applies to each submission. Once you have completed your submission through the online portal, you will be directed to the secure payment page to finalise your entry.
An entry fee of $550 applies to each APCO Awards submission. Entries are only considered valid once payment has been received in full. After payment, you will receive an email confirmation and tax receipt.
A fee applies to each entry, including when the same organisation submits multiple initiatives across different categories. To encourage broader participation and recognition of member organisations undertaking multiple initiatives, APCO offers discounted rates for additional entries submitted by the same organisation.
Yes, we encourage you to enter all relevant categories if you believe it fits the criteria.
Make sure each submission is tailored to the criteria of the category entered, clearly demonstrating how the initiative delivers against the specific outcomes being assessed.
Each additional Award category entry for the same initiative can be submitted with discounted entry fee of $165.00.
Eligible initiatives must:
Initiatives can relate to packaging design, reuse systems, recovery, data, collaboration, behaviour change, system integration.
Absolutely. SMEs are eligible and encouraged to enter in any category, especially the SME Circular Leadership Award.
The APCO Awards focus on impact, ingenuity and system relevance, regardless of organisational size.
Strong submissions demonstrate leadership through innovation, collaboration or scalable solutions—all of which are relevant to SMEs.
The Awards are open to APCO Members only. Entries are welcome from:
All entries must demonstrate initiatives and projects that have been implemented within the previous two years. Submissions that include concepts, early‑stage pilots or other activities that are yet to be implemented and not have evidence of impact will not be considered.
Yes, an entry fee applies to each submission. Once you have completed your submission through the online portal, you will be directed to the secure payment page to finalise your entry.
An entry fee of $550 applies to each APCO Awards submission. Entries are only considered valid once payment has been received in full. After payment, you will receive an email confirmation and tax receipt.
A fee applies to each entry, including when the same organisation submits multiple initiatives across different categories. To encourage broader participation and recognition of member organisations undertaking multiple initiatives, APCO offers discounted rates for additional entries submitted by the same organisation.
Yes, we encourage you to enter all relevant categories if you believe it fits the criteria.
Make sure each submission is tailored to the criteria of the category entered, clearly demonstrating how the initiative delivers against the specific outcomes being assessed.
Each additional Award category entry for the same initiative can be submitted with discounted entry fee of $165.00.
Eligible initiatives must:
Initiatives can relate to packaging design, reuse systems, recovery, data, collaboration, behaviour change, system integration.
Absolutely. SMEs are eligible and encouraged to enter in any category, especially the SME Circular Leadership Award.
The APCO Awards focus on impact, ingenuity and system relevance, regardless of organisational size.
Strong submissions demonstrate leadership through innovation, collaboration or scalable solutions—all of which are relevant to SMEs.
The APCO Awards prioritise impact over intent.
While ideas are important, submissions are primarily assessed on measurable environmental and economic impact, evidence of implementation and scalability, and contribution to system‑wide circular outcomes.
By emphasising impact and outcomes, the Awards showcase credible examples of industry leadership that is crucial to driving sector-wide change.
All entries are assessed by an independent judging panel through a rigorous, score-based judging process facilitated by third-party platform, EventsAir.
The judging panel includes cross‑sector representation from industry, government, technical experts and independent specialists to ensure credibility, balance and system alignment.
Judges evaluate submissions across multiple criteria that relate broadly to Impact, Implementation and Innovation.
APCO reserves the right not to present an Award in any category if the judging panel deem no submission meets the required standard.
This adherence to consistent high standards ensures the Awards remain a credible benchmark for circular packaging performance.
Winning and shortlisted initiatives may be featured as APCO case studies to support member engagement and industry education, and/or referenced in policy and sector engagement activities.
This helps translate individual leadership into broader system benefit.
The APCO Awards prioritise impact over intent.
While ideas are important, submissions are primarily assessed on measurable environmental and economic impact, evidence of implementation and scalability, and contribution to system‑wide circular outcomes.
By emphasising impact and outcomes, the Awards showcase credible examples of industry leadership that is crucial to driving sector-wide change.
All entries are assessed through a rigorous, independent judging process facilitated by an external partner.
The judging panel includes cross‑sector representation from industry, government, technical experts and independent specialists to ensure credibility, balance and system alignment.
Judges evaluate submissions across multiple criteria that relate broadly to Impact, Implementation and Innovation.
APCO reserves the right not to present an Award in any category if the judging panel deem no submission meets the required standard.
This adherence to consistent high standards ensures the Awards remain a credible benchmark for circular packaging performance.
Winning and shortlisted initiatives may be featured as APCO case studies to support member engagement and industry education, and/or referenced in policy and sector engagement activities.
This helps translate individual leadership into broader system benefit.
