Packaging industry research growth
In recent years, areas of packaging industry research are changing. These days, packaging industry research is primarily focusing on the developing innovative techniques, which include protecting and safeguarding of products, convenient use of packaged products, storage etc. A sound packaging can establish connection among materials, product, and packaging process, which ultimately meet the customers' satisfaction. All these factors are taken into consideration while conducting research work on packaging.
Major areas of research in packaging industry recently
Major areas of research in the packaging industry include strategic research, applied research and fundamental research.
- Strategic research focuses on new ideas and innovations in the sphere of package. The target of strategic research is to implement new innovative packaging techniques for the future packaging.
- Applied research is generally targeted to specific problems regarding use and distribution of packaged products.
- Fundamental research is primarily concerned with packaging research activities through modern technologies. The primary focus of fundamental research is on interpreting material and packaging system behavior and thereby establishes strong connection between packaging materials and products.
Some of the other areas of packaging industry, where research is carried on are graphical designing of package to make packaging more appealing to the users, looking for consumers' convenience to use or unfold the package and look for food safety.
Global packaging industry report
According to a market analysis report by SPG Media Group, the global packaging industry trend is as follows:
Global packaging industry is worth US$ 424 billion and out of this Europe has US$127 billion, Asia has US$114 billion, North America has US$ 118 billion, Latin America has US$ 30 billion, and other countries have $US 30 billion. In terms of global market percentage, Europe is 30%, North America is 28%, Latin America is 7%, Asia is 27% and other is 8% of global packaging industry.
According to the materials used in packaging industry throughout the globe, paper shares the most, 36%, metal is 17%, plastic takes 34%, glass takes 10% and other occupies 3%.
Management policies involved in packaging industry research
Some of the key management policies, normally considered while doing package industry research are value chain management, life cycle management etc.Packaging industry research is becoming more pro-active and are emphasizing on issues like reusing, recycling, recovering and disposal of packaging materials. Recycling is one of the most vital areas where lots of research works are going on. Environmental and safety issues deal with the environmental aspect of the package, including recycling of the packet and safety of the products like plastic contamination etc.
More and more businesses and industries are joining in the green movement, either out of a real interest in saving the planet or a desire to capitalize on the growing consumer demand for greener ways. For example, Wal-Mart anticipates savings to the tune of billions of dollars by reducing packaging across the supply chain and Wells Fargo issues carbon credits to offset its customers' credit card purchases
What is Green Packaging?
Green packaging is not just about reducing the amount of packaging but takes package design, processing, disposal conditions and the entire product lifecycle into consideration. Some of characteristics of sustainable packaging include:
- Minimizing the amount of packaging used (weight and volume)
- Minimizing the energy used for production and transportation of goods
- Using packaging that can be reused again, such as bottles and refillable ink cartridges
- Using recycled and recyclable materials
- Using biodegradable materials
Businesses are investing in green packaging because consumer research has shown that consumers value sustainable packaging provided that other aspects of packaging like functionality are met.
Different Types of Sustainable Packaging
Sustainable packaging is made of recycled products, recyclable products, biodegradable material and renewable raw materials. Some types of sustainable packaging products are described below. The list is indicative and not exhaustive.
Packaging made out of recycled source material
- Paper – is light weight, easy to print and can be recycled multiple times by using relatively little energy. However, the chemicals used to bleach paper may not be environmentally friendly and the replacement of forests by monocultures reduces biological diversity. Unbleached, post consumer waste paper is the best.
Synthetic biodegradable polyesters
These advanced materials are moisture resistant, and disintegrate in 12 weeks under aerobic conditions. They are often used as a coating for protecting cheaper biodegradable materials. The biggest problem in the popularizing of this product is its high cost. Also the facilities for sorting and composting may not be easily available in North America.