Success. Entirely without plastic.

Packaging pioneer Susanne Meininger receives the Austrian Female Entrepreneurship Award 2022

This year, the Austrian Female Entrepreneurs AWARD, a joint award presented by “Women in Business” and the daily national newspaper “Die Presse”, took place for the eighth time. Outstanding female entrepreneurs who convinced the jury for their courage, innovative energy, creativity and their own special entrepreneurial success story were awarded in five categories. The goal of the Austrian Female Entrepreneurs AWARD is to convey female entrepreneurs and their great achievements more visibility. A new record for this year’s award was set, with 241 submissions. Packaging pioneer Susanne Meininger, owner of the companies VPZ Verpackungszentrum Graz and Packnatur Neudau, received first prize in the category “Special Entrepreneurial Achievement” for the development of compostable packaging.

Susanne Meininger, a trained chemist, has always been interested in plants and has dedicated almost 30 years to the development of compostable packaging out of personal conviction. She pursued several research projects throughout this period: foam materials made from seaweed, foils made from plant residues or nets made from wood. With Packnatur® net packaging made of LENZING™ Modal beech wood fibre from the thinning of local forests, an innovative Styrian product has successfully established itself on the international market following two years of development. A production facility was opened in Neudau, Styria in 2019 and is already in its third expansion stage. Packnatur® is an innovative product from Styria that is now distributed around the world, from the USA, to South Africa, all the way to New Zealand.

Photo © Günther Peroutka