Plastic Packaging Market Trends

Global Plastic Packaging Market Overview

The global plastic packaging market size was valued at USD 350.43 Billion in 2023. The Plastic Packaging industry is projected to grow from USD 360.86 Billion in 2024 to USD 507.81 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.26% during the forecast period (2024 - 2032). An increase in the demand for packaged food and beverages and a rise in the demand for e-commerce among consumers are the key market drivers enhancing the plastic packaging market growth.Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database, and Analyst Review

Plastic Packaging Market Trends

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  Benefits of plastic packaging to boost market growth

  
  

Due to busy lifestyles, there is a higher need for convenient items, which raises the need for flexible packing. Flexible plastic packaging is more cost-effective than other types of packaging because it requires less energy and resources to manufacture. As a result, flexible packs are more affordable and occupy less retail shelf space. Plastic packaging increases shelf life and reduces product waste. Bananas, for example, mature more gradually when covered in flexible plastic packaging, extending their shelf life. Using the least amount of packaging possible, this type of packing can increase or maintain product protection while lowering the cost of warehousing and transportation. Further boosting the growth rate of the plastic packaging market are elements like plastic's low cost and outstanding printability. Additional market growth variables anticipated to support expansion include rising consumer income and accelerating e-commerce operations, particularly in emerging markets.

Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

Additionally, plastic packaging is a particularly adaptable and versatile type of packaging, enabling producers to alter its style, size, and shape to meet the needs of their clients. Plastic packing is an incredibly lightweight and very space-efficient storage alternative. They require little storage space and are very simple to move, which minimizes the carbon footprint associated with transportation. Plastic packaging can withstand harsh conditions and doesn't quickly deteriorate in hot or cold temperatures, protecting the quality of the food or beverage inside. Users can ensure their goods are well-preserved because plastic is incredibly strong and resistant to outside influences. Plastic packaging, a ubiquitous modern convenience, poses an enduring environmental challenge as it lingers in our ecosystems for centuries.

Furthermore, due to increasing time restrictions among working professionals and the availability of convenience food goods, the demand for packaged food items is quickly expanding. Packaged food items offer superior barrier protection, confinement or accumulation, advertising, in-depth ingredient information, safety, appropriateness, and more. Due to the growing time restrictions caused by the majority of customers, especially women, shift work, the market is shifting towards packaged or ready-to-eat goods. Thus, the increasing demand for packaged food products is another factor driving the growth of the Plastic Packaging market revenue.

Mars China introduced a Snickers bar with dark chocolate cereal inside mono-material flexible packaging in December 2023. While offering a low sugar and low glycemic index (GI) option, this new item also provides an individual package made from a mono PP material that complies with the “Designed For Recycling” principle, which can simply be recycled through dedicated channels. Flexible packaging is popularly used for lightweight applications, flexibility, and moisture/humidity resistance. It is also employed as packaging material for instant noodles, biscuits, and snack foods. Normally, multiple layers of different materials are assembled into flexible packages that meet the requirements of food safety while being lightweight and flexible.

Plastic Packaging Market Segment Insights

Plastic Packaging Type Insights

The plastic packaging market segmentation based on type, includes rigid packaging and flexible packaging. The flexible packaging segment held the majority share in 2021, contributing to the plastic packaging market revenue. Due to rising demand in end-use industries, including the food, beverage, cosmetic & personal care, and pharmaceutical sectors, the flexible packaging segment is anticipated to expand considerably in the coming years. The market for flexible plastic packaging is projected to expand due to modern retailing's expansion, rising consumer incomes, and the acceleration of e-commerce activities, particularly in emerging markets.

Rigid packaging is the second fastest-growing segment, which accounts for a considerable share of the plastic packaging market share is rigid packaging. For the packaging of new bottles and containers, rigid plastic packaging uses plastic materials like polypropylene (PP), high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and polyethylene (PET). These materials are lightweight and enduring. Packaging made of polyethylene and polypropylene can be used in various industries, including food and beverage, agriculture, aerospace, automotive, and medical.

May 2020: Berry Group, Inc. had announced a partnership with longtime client Mondelez International to provide Philadelphia, the most well-known cream cheese in the world, with packaging made of recycled plastic. The plastic material in the package was collected using cutting-edge recycling technology due to Berry's and SABIC's relationship, which was announced earlier this year. This will help in becoming the leader of Berry Group in the plastic packaging industry.

February 2020: Amcor joined the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC). The HPRC is a network of industry peers from the waste management, recycling, and healthcare sectors. The company will support the alliance by utilizing its understanding of how medical device packaging is used in hospitals and other healthcare institutions. The industry group works on every aspect of the packaging value chain, from container design to end markets and collection systems.

Figure 2: Plastic Packaging Market, by Type, 2021 & 2030 (USD Million)Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

Plastic Packaging Application Insights

The plastic packaging market segmentation, based on application are food & beverages, industrial, healthcare and personal care. The food & beverages segment dominated the market in 2021 and is projected to be the faster-growing segment during the forecast period, 2024-2030. The majority of the food and beverage sector uses plastic packaging extensively. The lifestyles of different consumer groups are drastically changing due to rising urbanization. This is significantly increasing the need for plastic packaging. Hence, owing to the mentioned features it positively impacts the market growth.

The second fastest growing segment in the plastic packaging industry is healthcare. Plastics are crucial to ensuring the security of the medical staff and patients, from medicine packaging to medical equipment packaging.

Flexible food packaging supply chain members have come together to create snack packs that contain fifty percent recycled plastic and still satisfy strict food contact demands during March 2024. Sunbites is owned by PepsiCo and is marketed under its brand name; it was in late 2023 that sustainable new packaging was released across the UK and Ireland. To make these packages comply with European Union regulations, for example, contact sensitive and medical devices (CSMD) and food contact packaging applications, the company has used an advanced recycling process, which is an alternative to mechanical recycling in this case for meeting the regulatory requirements.

Plastic Packaging Regional Insights

By region, the study provides market insights into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World. North America plastic packaging market accounted for USD 91896.0042 million in 2021 and is expected to exhibit a 41.80% CAGR growth during the study period. Due to the flexible qualities afforded by plastic packaging in the area have led to an increase in utilization across the food and beverage, industrial, healthcare, and personal care industries.

Further, the major countries studied in the market report are: The U.S, Canada, Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, India, Australia, South Korea, and Brazil.

Figure 3: PLASTIC PACKAGING MARKET SHARE BY REGION 2021 (%)Source: Secondary Research, Primary Research, MRFR Database and Analyst Review

North America plastic packaging market accounts for the largest market share. This is mostly because food packaging technology is improving, and more packaged organic food items are being introduced in this region. Due to people's increasingly hectic work schedules and growing inclination for ready-to-eat and convenience meals, the area is considered the most lucrative market for packaged food goods. Further, the US plastic packaging market held the largest market share as packaging was seen as a crucial function. The FDA has said that the COVID-19 virus is not currently spread through packaging in the US. However, according to some sources, viruses can survive on packing materials for one to three days. As a result, the region's critical services have been classified as including the food, beverage, healthcare, and other end-user businesses. Additionally, the Canada plastic packaging market was the fastest growing market in the North American region.

The Europe plastic packaging market is expected to grow at the fastest CAGR from 2024 to 2030. It is projected that businesses operating in the Europe plastic packaging market would spend on research to create multi-material product profiles and validate their cleaning and processing for chemical recycling. Moreover, Germany plastic packaging market held the largest market share, and the Australia Plastic Packaging market was the fastest growing market in the Asia-Pacific region.

For instance, Australia plastic packaging market is driven by presence of several major market players. By purchasing Cormack Packaging in September 2021, TricorBraun expanded its presence in Australia and New Zealand and be able to provide rigid packaging to the food and beverage, personal care, industrial, and healthcare.

Plastic Packaging Key Market Players & Competitive Insights

Major market players are spending a lot of capitals on R&D to enhance their product lines, which will aid the Plastic Packaging market expand. Market players are also taking a range of strategic measures to expand their worldwide footprint, with prime market developments such as new product innovations & launches, contracts & agreements, mergers and acquisitions, better investments, and collaboration & strategic partnerships with other organizations in the plastic packaging market. Competitors in the plastic packaging industry must offer cost-effective items to extend and survive in an increasingly high competitive and expanding market environment.

One of the primary business strategies adopted by manufacturers in the plastic packaging industry to benefit clients and expand the market sector is to manufacture locally to reduce operating costs. In recent years, plastic packaging manufacturer has provided with some of the most significant benefits. The plastic packaging manufacturers major player such as Amcor Ltd (Australia), Wipak Group (Finland), Ampac Holdings LLC (US), BASF SE (Germany), Saint-Gobain (France), and others are working to drive the market growth via investing heavily in research and development activities.

Amcor (Australia) is a company that offers packaging services. Pet bottles, plastic bottles and jars, capsules and closures, customized folding cartons, free films, bags and pouches, wrappers, rigid containers, laminates, and flow packs are just a few of the plastic, fiber, metal, and glass packaging goods it provides. In January 2021, Amcor will present how it is redefining dairy packaging by providing more sustainable solutions and cutting-edge design and delivery, prolonging shelf life for consumers, as the headline sponsor of the 2021 International Dairy Forum. Amcor will also demonstrate the most recent advancements in dairy packaging and sustainability.

Also, Saint-Gobain (France) creates, produces, and distributes products essential to everyone's future well-being and our own. Products from Saint-Gobain are ideal for the packaging industry because they offer a durable, non-stick-release surface and chemical and high-temperature resistance. In manufacturing plastic bags, heat shrinking, sealing, and metal food confinement are common applications. In April 2020, the brilliant idea to offer to use the plastic often used to package its goods to produce aprons for healthcare workers came from Saint-Placo. Gobain's Placo sent its plastic packaging to nearby businesses to create protective garments for medical crews after passing the initial tests with flying colors.

SABIC, a global chemical industry leader in April 2024 rolled out the first-ever circular packaging project in Saudi Arabia as part of its TRUCIRCLE program aimed at speeding up the implementation of a circular plastic economy. The Oat Arabic Bread from FONTE, one of the key players in the bakery industry in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), now comes with bread bags made out of SABIC’s certified circular polyethylene (PE). Napco National, a vertically integrated Saudi producer of flexible film and packaging products, manufactures these bags by using two food contact-approved grades of circular polyethylene resin (LLDPE) from the TRUCIRCLE catalog offered by SABIC. Starting March 2023, when this joint project was launched, and continuing until May 2023, when this experiment was successfully accomplished at Napco, FONTE has begun distributing these flexible bags throughout supermarkets located across Saudi Arabia.

List of the Key Companies in the Plastic Packaging market include

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  Amcor Ltd (Australia)

  
  


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  Wipak Group (Finland)

  
  


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  Ampac Holdings LLC (US)

  
  


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  BASF SE (Germany)

  
  


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  Saint-Gobain (France)

  
  


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  Sealed Air Corporation (US)

  
  


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  Crown Holdings Inc (US)

  
  


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  Mondi Group (UK)

  
  


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  Constantia Flexibles International GmbH (Austria)

  
  


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  Sonoco Products Company (US)

  
  


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  Bemis Company Inc (US)

  
  


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  Huhtamaki Oyj (Finland)

  
  

Plastic Packaging Industry Developments

January 2021: Amcor will present how it is redefining dairy packaging by providing more sustainable solutions and cutting-edge design and delivery, prolonging shelf life for consumers, as the headline sponsor of the 2021 International Dairy Forum. Amcor will also demonstrate the most recent advancements in dairy packaging and sustainability.

In October 2023, Coca-Cola India introduced carbonated beverage bottles made from 100% recycled PET (rPET). Those new bottles are being manufactured by Moon Beverages and SLMG Beverages which are bottling partners for Coca-Cola.

In April 2024, Manjushree Technopack Limited reached definitive agreements to acquire Oricon Enterprises Ltd's plastic packaging business for an enterprise value of Rs.520 crores ($6.29 mn). The acquired company was composed of Oriental Containers, which is a manufacturer of plastic containers and closures primarily used in beverages. MTL’s completion of this deal will increase the cap and closure market by twice its current position in the industry, with an annual installed capacity approaching 15 billion pieces.

In December 2023, Aptar Pharma a wholly owned subsidiary of Aptar Corporation based in United States set up a new manufacturing facility at Mumbai, India to increase production capacity for Southeast Asian markets. Furthermore, it has enhanced its production capabilities so as to improve manufacturing capacity with pharmaceutical customers in Southeast Asia while offering innovative product solutions.

April 2020: the brilliant idea to offer to use the plastic often used to package its goods to produce aprons for healthcare workers came from Saint-Placo. Gobain's Placo sent its plastic packaging to nearby businesses to create protective garments for medical crews after passing the initial tests with flying colors.

Plastic Packaging Market Segmentation

Plastic Packaging Type Outlook

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  Rigid packaging

  
  


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  Flexible packaging

  
  

Plastic Packaging Application Outlook

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  Food & beverages

  
  


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  Industrial

  
  


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  Healthcare

  
  


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  Personal care

  
  

Plastic Packaging Regional Outlook

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  North America

  
  
  
  
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    US

    
    
  
  
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    Canada

    
    
  
  
  
  


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  Europe

  
  
  
  
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    Germany

    
    
  
  
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    France

    
    
  
  
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    UK

    
    
  
  
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    Italy

    
    
  
  
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    Spain

    
    
  
  
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    Rest of Europe

    
    
  
  
  
  


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  Asia-Pacific

  
  
  
  
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    China

    
    
  
  
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    Japan

    
    
  
  
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    India

    
    
  
  
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    Australia

    
    
  
  
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    South Korea

    
    
  
  
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    Australia

    
    
  
  
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    Rest of Asia-Pacific

    
    
  
  
  
  


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  Rest of the World

  
  
  
  
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    Middle East

    
    
  
  
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    Africa

    
    
  
  
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    Latin America