Sustained strong demand for lightweight, functional packages

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Light weight as a perennial theme, recyclable design from the outset

The packaging sector continues to boom – and with it the requirements it has to meet, its possibilities and the innovative solutions. Its sheer diversity cannot be covered exhaustively in a single article, so only a selection of topics and examples have been picked out in the following without any claim to completeness..

The weight of each package solution continues to be important. A great deal has happened in this area in the last few years. The ideas and savings potentials are many and varied: the omission of package outers, flexible rather than rigid or semi-rigid packages, new designs and the reduction in wall thicknesses. From 1991 to 2013, packages thus became 25% lighter overall. In 2013 alone, 1 million tonnes of plastics were saved worldwide as a result of weight reduction, despite the growing expectations required on functionality.

Growing in prominence, as it is demanded increasingly by legislators as well as by consumers, is resource conservation. Closely associated with this is the scope for package recycling. In Germany today, almost all household packages are reutilised, with more than half (56%) being recycled rather than being incinerated for the energy content. About 20 years ago, the figure was only 3%. In the case of PET bottles, the rate is much better, with 98% undergoing material recovery and being returned to the production cycle. Consequently, each new bottle produced today contains about 25% regranulate.

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