Hi, I'm Renata
(aka the "Packaging Queen")
As your sustainable packaging consultant, I’m here to guide you on your pathway to sustainable packaging and support your business to be compliant with Australian Packaging Standards and APCO reporting.
My approach is to help you implement packaging solutions that are functional, aesthetically pleasing and have minimal impact on the environment.
Because you shouldn’t have to sacrifice design aesthetics to choose sustainable packaging.
Why choose
more sustainable packaging?
Studies show that customers are willing to pay more for eco-friendly products that help them live a sustainable lifestyle.
By investing a little more in eco-friendly packaging solutions, you can raise your prices, attract new customers, and increase your profits.
Environmentally sustainable packaging is a win for the environment, a win for your business and a win for your customers!
From chemical engineer to sustainable packaging consultant
My passion for packaging started early, with an eye for beautiful design and a curiosity to understand how items were created.
I studied chemical engineering at university and learned about how packaging was made: from paper and plastic to the glue that binds everything together.
I built up a career as an internationally recognised engineer for traditional industries around the world.
But I had started to grow concerned about the negative impact these companies were having on the environment. So much of the packaging was destined for landfill.
I knew this didn’t have to be the case.
So, I moved to Germany to study a Master’s in fibre based packaging engineering and learn about the country’s innovations around packaging and developing a waste system that impacts lightly on the environment.
When I moved to Australia in 2019, I realised how I could use my knowledge and experience to make a real difference.
Australia has a reputation as a green country, but its sustainability credentials need vast improvement! I realised that the barrier to effective change was lack of clear information for individuals and business owners. It can be confusing to navigate the different recycling plants and options in different Australian states. What can be recycled in Victoria may be sent to landfill in NSW!
Even if people wanted to be more sustainable, it was hard for them to know where to start.
So, AWEN Consulting was born.
How Can We Create A Circular Economy?
The current economic system of ‘take-make-waste’ is no longer viable for businesses, people or nature. AWEN sustainable packaging consultants believe that waste and pollution are design flaws. Using innovative materials, thoughtful design and new technologies, businesses can choose products and materials that remain in use or are reinvented. This is the Circular Economy: the pathway to a sustainable future.
List of Qualifications :
bachelor's degree in chemical engineering
PUCRS University • 2009
post-graduation in food technology
UFRGS University • 2011
MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (MBA)
FGV Brazil • 2013
master's degree in paper and packaging engineering
Hochschule München University of Applied Sciences • 2016
Circular Economy for a Sustainable Built Environment
Delft University • 2020
Sustainable Packaging in a Circular Economy
Delft University • 2020
Tools to help you meet the APCO 2025 National Packaging Targets: ARL & PREP
Australian Institute of Packaging • 2020
Applying Behavioural Science to Create Change
Monash University • 2020
Design of Sustainable Packaging for cosmetics
Tatabi Studio • 2021
Design with Biomimicry
Circulab • 2021
Design for Circular Economy
Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute • 2022
Economia Circular na Prática: entenda, desenhe, transforme
Ideia Circular • 2022
Sustainable Business Strategy
Harward Business School • 2022
phd candidate - design for circularity
University of Technology Sydney • Ongoing - 2027
