2017 plastic packaging industry will follow the five mainstream routes

1. Saving the route

Save food

The “Swop Packaging World (Shanghai) Expo” held at the Shanghai New International Expo Center on November 7-10 introduced the special theme of “SAVEFOOD”, which was displayed in the dual form of the exhibition and the summit forum. And discuss packaging concepts and solutions designed to reduce food loss and waste.

As one of the initiators of SAVEFOOD, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has given SAVEFOOD China strong support. The news that SAVEFOOD has entered China has been widely publicized to all member units by mail. It can be said that SAVEFOOD China has received unanimous attention and expectation from the international community since its inception. At present, it has attracted a number of packaging industry suppliers with social responsibility and innovative skills, such as Modivik, Danbel, Beijing. Yu Cai, Huayi Plastics, etc. DuPont, Xiamen Changsu, Sealed Air, Taurang Sorting, and Bailey Plastics also expressed strong interest in the SAVEFOOD China project.

Extend fresh meat preservation period

Recently, the QualiMeat International Meat Safety Research Project was officially launched in Austria with an investment of 1 million Euros. The plan takes about 3 years. This project will develop a variety of packaging materials that can extend the shelf life of fresh meat products and improve consumer safety by studying the interaction between packaging materials and packaging products.

It is reported that Modivik, the world's leading packaging equipment manufacturer, will continue to participate in swop2017, providing professional advice on packaging, packaging equipment and packaging processes for visitors. Its thermoformed stretch film packaging machine uses the innovative high-temperature packaging MylarCOOK technology, which is packaged with Mylar film with special barrier and heat resistance. It has helped British meat processing company Dovecote Park to steak and up to 10cm burdock products. The front-end vacuum body packaging, after the product packaging, the shelf life has been extended by 2 times, the company's turnover has also increased by nearly 20%.

2. Acquisition route

RPC acquires North American hard plastic packaging company Letica

British plastic packaging group RPC acquired the American packaging company Letica for $640 million without any debt. Letica is a hard plastic packaging manufacturer and distributor in North America. The terminal markets it serves are mainly food and beverage, food, chemical and retail. The company operates a wide range of production processes, including injection molding, thermoforming, interior design, high-quality printing, and decoration. Headquartered in Rochester, Michigan, Letica has a number of long-term clients on the market. As of June 30, 2016, Letica had revenues of $450 million and profit before interest and taxes of $57 million.

Mondi acquires consumer goods packaging company Excelsior

Mondi Group acquired the UK consumer packaging company Excelsior for a price of 38 million euros. The acquisition is a great complement to the company's consumer goods, food packaging products and range, enabling consumers to have more choices. Excelsior manufactures flexible packaging systems with unique microwave retort packaging technology. Its portfolio also includes bags, reel materials and film. It has two production sites in the UK, one in Wales and one in Lancashire. The acquisition is in full compliance with the development strategy of the Audi Group for the consumer packaging business.

3. Sustainable development route

Plastic flexible packaging industry strongly promotes VOCs governance

The data shows that the packaging and printing industry emits more than 1 million tons of VOCs annually, especially in the plastic flexible packaging industry. Solvent-based inks and adhesives are used in the printing and compounding process. VOCs emissions are particularly prominent, accounting for about the total emissions of the packaging and printing industry. About 70% of the amount. It can be seen that the comprehensive management of VOCs is imperative.

The source control of VOCs in packaging and printing enterprises is the fundamental policy and the most important. In the past, the composite process of plastic flexible packaging enterprises in China basically adopted the dry composite method, and the adhesive used contained a large amount of organic solvent. In order to reduce the use of organic solvents, VOCs pollution from the source, the industry's low (no) VOCs raw and auxiliary materials replacement list is released, such as inks, adhesives, coating liquids, fountain solutions, cleaning agents, etc. Material replacement products have begun to be promoted and applied.

At present, listed companies in the packaging and printing industry are basically equipped with governance facilities. With an annual output value of more than 3 billion yuan, the company's plastic flexible packaging industry, the "old boss" Amcor Group, has taken an active role. Beijing Amcor has invested 12 million yuan to recycle equipment and reduce annual emissions by more than 800 tons. In addition to leading the industry's leading role, the Beijing and Shanghai governments have also taken an active role in formulating VOCs' sewage charges and regulations, and introduced local standards for VOCs emissions in the printing industry in Europe and the United States, and strongly promoted printing corporate governance.

100% recycled PET soda bottle made of 18 egg box

The Hickman Family Farm, an Arizona-based egg factory, has introduced a new 18-piece egg box, such as Costco, made from a 100% recycled PET soda bottle.

The innovative design of the egg carton includes “locking” the support columns, which are placed under the lid of the package to protect the eggs. In addition, the bottom of the egg rests in a perfect raised notch to reinforce. The transparent package eliminates the need for the customer to open the carton to check the eggs. These features also reduce egg breakage and damage.

GlobalPlastics, Inc., a vertically integrated recycling company based in Perris, Calif., purchases recycled PET bottles from recycling centers through the California Redemption Program and pays each consumer a recycling bottle. The California recycling rate is approximately 90%. GlobalPlastics recycles approximately 4 million bottles per day, sorts them by color and shape, and cleans them according to FDA standards to ensure clean recycling. The company then pelletizes the material and extrudes the sheet for thermoforming. The birth of the RPET egg box production idea brought a second life to the less popular recycled green and amber bottles, making it no longer accessible to the oceans and landfills.

4. Intelligent route

Smart packaging is a hot topic in the current industry. The patented product smart label developed by Beijing Suifo Technology Co., Ltd., one of SAVEFOOD's Chinese exhibitors, provides a powerful driving force for smart packaging. The technology is based on the big data deterioration of the product under abnormal storage and transportation conditions, and can monitor the product quality in the logistics and sales process and the temperature and time inside and outside the package.

Consumers can visually identify whether the quality of the product is fresh or deteriorated by the color gradient from green to red, avoiding the potential safety hazards of the current printed warranty date label. Smart labels will be applied to the upstream and downstream tracking of the cold chain. The overall monitoring will control the quality of various common perishable products such as food and beverage, pharmaceutical vaccines and cosmetics from every stage of production, transportation and use.

5. Commercial route

The commercialization of packaging innovation is becoming a new trend in the industry in 2017. According to the industry, as new and more advanced and sustainable procurement and processing materials continue to emerge, more industries will have the opportunity to bring clean label packaging to the market. Examples include high-pressure packaging technology, and more alternative materials will enter the market, active/digital packaging and 3D printing. Through traceability and tampering alerts, as well as the ability to monitor patient accountability, we will see tremendous advances in pharmaceutical packaging.

Xiaobian summary:

The plastic packaging market is gradually on the right track, and as the largest area in the plastics application industry, its growth rate is growing. As one of the four major materials in the packaging industry, plastic packaging accounts for 30% of paper and paperboard, 25% of plastics, 25% of metals and 15% of glass. The development prospects are expected. As an industry with good development prospects, the plastic packaging market is receiving more and more attention. It is believed that under the planning of transportation, acquisition, sustainable development, intelligence, commercialization, etc., the plastic packaging industry will develop even better.