Demand for plastic, other bags to hit 38m tonnes
CONSTANCE, Germany, January 21, 2016
The worldwide demand for bags and sacks made of polyethylene foil, of other plastic foil, of woven plastic strips, as well as of paper, altogether will grow until 2022 to about 37.9 million tonnes, according to a recent market research report.
Polyethylene, especially LLDPE, is the most-commonly used material here, said the Ceresana report.
The list of the different types of bags include ultrathin-walled plastic bags, carrier bags with enhanced carrying handle, valve bags, FIBC, stand-up pouches and disposable sachets, it said.
Many countries try to reduce the consumption of disposable bags. However, disposable carrier bags made of plastic are not equally problematic in every country.
The negative impacts upon the environment depend not only on the amount of per-capita consumption and the number of re-uses but also and especially on the quality of the different waste managements and disposal and recycling systems.
In Europe, an amendment of the packaging directive (94/62/EG) commits the member states of the EU to precise actions. This will lead to a noticeable reduction, even if particular countries, like for example Poland, would rather ignore this norm.
Bioplastics are on the rise
Bioplastics are usually exempt from bans and special taxes which are directed to bags made of polyethylene.
Plastics which are made of renewable raw materials (for example, cornstarch) and/or are biodegradable have gained importance in recent years and are increasingly considered by legislators.
Struggling big bags
In the segment heavy duty and industry sacks, plastic replaces paper more and more. In individual sectors like animal feed or construction materials paper bags still play an important role, though; yet, even here polyethylene gains further market shares.
The demand for heavy-duty sacks depends to a high degree on the dynamics of the construction sector which recently subsides for example in Brazil and China.
Ceresana expects that the consumption of heavy duty sacks made of plastic in Brazil will only increase by 2.5 per cent per year during the forecast period.
Unbridled triumphal march of stand-up pouches
In food packaging the trend is still towards plastic bags, which for example replace metal cans or glass jars. Flexible plastic bags adapt better to the goods which helps to optimize the packaging size. Oftentimes, they are microwavable as well.
Stand-up pouches have shown a downright triumphal march in the past few years. The per capita consumption in the different countries still varies strongly – accordingly, this type of packaging material still has an enormous potential for growth.
For bags and sacks modern form-fill-seal processes gain more and more importance: With the aid of suitable machines the forming of the packaging, their filling, as well as the sealing take place in one single continuous process. - TradeArabia News Service
