“The cartonboard industry has many opportunities to grow.”
“Moving away from plastic calls for a major transformation of the global packaging industry. Driven by increasing consumer awareness, regulators, brand owners and material providers are seeking innovative approaches to sustainable packaging.” Global brands are reacting Cordeiro has observed enthusiastic new strategic choices in the design and material selection of several leading global brand own- ers. Many have announced strong commitments to reduce their packaging carbon footprint, with the use of unsustainable plastic materials as a clear “no-no”. Unilever, for example, a multinational consumer goods pro- ducer, has announced that by 2025 it will half its use of virgin plastic, a reduction of more than 100,000 tonnes per year. “After more than fifty years of growth, plastic packaging usage appears to have peaked and is beginning to decline in many countries and for many packers. Likewise, regulators – national, regional, or municipal – are also concerned with the problems caused by single-use plastics.” Against this background, it is no wonder that demand for fibre- based packaging materials is growing. The global market for car- tonboards is reaching 50 million tonnes. Most of this volume consists of folding cartons used for the packaging of consumer and fast-moving goods such as food, confectionary, beverages, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. “The cartonboard industry has many opportunities to grow.” Wanted: innovative barriers With plastics heading for exit, it is important to recognise the role of barriers in boards. Many cartonboards receive a plastic coating layer of some sort, Cordeiro says.
“Typically, board-based packages need a very thin PE-coating layer to provide additional barriers – for example against water or gases. These are necessary in many applications to assure adequate packaging functionality.” He believes that, for the high-quality coated cartonboard seg- ment to keep growing, a combination of mechanical and chemical pulps is needed. “Both short and long fibre chemical pulps are needed for these folding packaging applications. Our recent estimates indicate that the global demand for bleached kraft market pulps within the packaging segment alone will exceed 10 million tonnes by 2035.” Disruption brings confusion Mark Beamesderfer , Packaging Services Director, Americas for Metsä Board, agrees that real change is happening around us. “The transition away from plastic is taking place at an accelerated rate, due to government legislation to reduce and eliminate many traditionally plastic packaging products and utensils,” he says, add- ing that there is a lot of confusion in the marketplace. “We find ourselves in a situation where we used to have plastic straws wrapped in paper, but now have paper straws wrapped in plastic.” Beamesderfer believes the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on supply chains and material availability have also impacted the market by disrupting sustainable packaging initiatives. Many grocery store or restaurant takeout containers have regressed from paperboard back to plastics. “Rest assured, as we put the pandemic behind us and supply chain issues rectify themselves, we will see a strong resurgence of paper-based packaging. Brands will get back to focusing on their sustainability commitments, incentivised by the increase in
João Cordeiro Global Head of Pulp & Paper for advisory services sup- plier AFRY, says that regulators, brand owners and ma- terial providers are all seeking innovative approaches for sustainable packaging.
Mark Beamesderfer Packaging Services Director, Americas for Metsä Board, believes that tremendous change is taking place in packaging right now although there is also some marketplace confusion.
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