Blister packaging manufacturers said that the advantages of flexible plastic packaging are: light weight, soft, less waste, small space occupation, low cost and high cost effectiveness (volume and weight of packaging per unit weight), so it is more competitive than hard packaging. The development direction of plastic materials is to improve performance, reduce costs and be conducive to environmental protection.
With the development of new varieties and brands of plastics and the improvement of processing technology and machinery, the performance of materials and packaging products has been improved, which can not only reduce the consumption and cost of materials, but also meet the requirements of people for the environment.
According to the Research Report of the European Association of plastic manufacturers (APME), the average weight of plastics used for packaging has decreased by 28% in recent ten years, and the amount of plastic used in packaging has been reduced by more than 1.8 million tons each year, saving resources. Among them, plastic packaging film is the most effective, accounting for more than 70% of the savings. The annual consumption of packaging materials in Europe is 66.4 million tons, of which 11.6 million tons, accounting for 17%, accounting for 50% of the packaged goods.
With the emergence of various food safety accidents related to plastics, we have entered the era of plastic color change. But even so, we can't wipe out the lightness of plastic packaging. Over the years, specific materials seem to be suitable for specific applications: soup in metal cans, red wine in glass bottles, coffee in paper cups. But the innovation of plastic packaging has brought plastics into the field once dominated by other materials.
Campbell's gosoups is the company's first concentrated soup packed in flexible vertical bags in the United States. Compared with traditional soup packaging, the surface area of this package is larger. In addition, the bottom of the customized pouch is equipped with a gusset plate to help the whole package stand on the shelf or in the microwave oven. At the same time, consumers can see the unique materials inside through such packaging.
Therefore, it can be said that plastic, especially plastic flexible packaging, is the most effective way to reduce the weight of packaging. The reduced weight is even larger than the amount of recycled and reused (1.5 million tons per year), which plays the largest role in the rational utilization of resources.
When talking about the importance of plastic flexible packaging in food packaging, German magazine plastics pointed out that it has become a part of culture. Besides packaging function, it can also prevent the packaging from being damaged, reduce the requirements for storage, provide information to consumers, serve customers more effectively, and make the goods easy for family management, storage and transportation. This can be indicated by the following figures: 30% - 50% of food in developing countries is damaged in storage and transportation, while only 1% - 2% in developed countries in Western Europe. Because of its good comprehensive performance and performance price ratio, plastic flexible packaging market has become one of the fastest growing varieties in packaging.
It can be seen that the average annual growth rate of plastic flexible packaging consumption in the past and in the future is higher than other packaging methods, not only faster than paper packaging, but also higher than plastic hard packaging. According to the data provided by the famous American business communication company (BCC) in the special report of "changing the plastic flexible packaging industry", the total consumption of plastic flexible packaging market in the world only reached 6.31 million tons in 2001, and the largest consumption at present is food packaging, with 1.68 million tons.
In a word, the colorful plastic flexible packaging has become the fastest growing product in the packaging industry due to its excellent comprehensive performance, expanding use, reasonable price and being conducive to the environment. It is expected that the plastic flexible packaging will maintain a good growth momentum in the next few years. The following is an analysis of the use of materials.