Anthony Locicero, Associate Editor04.15.21
The global packaging printing market is projected to grow from $352.1 billion in 2020 to $433.4 billion by 2025, at a CAGR of 4.2% during that time frame, according to MarketsandMarkets.
Additionally, the global packaging printing ink market is anticipated to reach $13.45 billion by 2026 according to a study published by Polaris Market Research.
However, like so many other markets, the packaging sector was affected by COVID-19. That includes raw material availability and price increases.
“Raw materials have been and are constantly under pressure in terms of cost and availability,” said Dr. Lutz Frischmann, global product director Flexible Packaging, hubergroup. “Increasing freight costs massively impact raw materials in general.”
“2020 has been an exceptional year with drastic changes for the overall global economy presenting supply chains with unpredictable challenges,” a representative from Siegwerk told Ink World. “Due to stringent lockdowns, economies have been brought to a complete standstill for several weeks, resulting in an essential reduction in overall demand at the beginning of the pandemic.
“The printing and packaging ink markets suffered from this overall impact like other industries as well,” the spokesperson added.
According to Siegwerk, flexible packaging and labels for packaging witnessed “unusually strong” growth in Europe and the US during the first half of 2020, primarily driven by overstocking during the initial months of the pandemic.
This demand normalized again during the second half of the year, according to Siegwerk.
“The demand for water-based inks for paper & board applications like paper cups, tissues or similar has abruptly collapsed due to restaurant closures and event cancellations in 2020,” the company spokesperson said. “Besides, sheetfed inks for commercial and luxury packaging have experienced a strong collapse in demand as well due to retail shop closures and a related declining demand for luxury packaging.”
Toyo Ink increased sales of eco-friendly products to growing markets in Asia – in particular China, India and Southeast Asia – as regulatory requirements continued to tighten in the region, according to Jose Novo, key account manager, Packaging Materials Department, Liquid Ink Business Section, Marketing Division of Toyo Ink.
“For Toyo Ink, customer demand for sustainable packaging materials held strong, despite a prolonged pandemic,” Novo said. “Overseas sales were affected by the suspension of operations by customers and our own production sites in China, Southeast Asia, India and elsewhere. However, our factories managed to resume operations comparatively quickly on the basis that they manufacture daily necessities.”
Growing segments
The global packaging printing market is projected to grow with the increase in the demand for packaging printing for attractive packaging of food & beverage products across the globe, according to MarketsandMarkets report titled “Packaging Printing Market by Printing Ink (Aqueous, UV-based), Printing Technology (Flexography, Gravure, Digital), Packaging Type (Labels & Tags, Flexible), Application (Food & Beverages, Cosmetics, Pharmaceuticals), & Region - Global Forecast to 2025.”
The food and beverage segment is estimated to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period (2020–2025), according to the report.
“In Japan, sales of mainstay gravure inks for packaging were firm for household food, such as frozen food and retort pouches, as people refrained from going out, as well as for hygiene products,” Novo said.
“Watching it from the other side, we saw a slight decline in the demand of packaging for establishments like schools in the Philippines due to the lock-down situations,” Novo added. “Therefore, we guess that the general demand for ‘retail’ food and beverage packaging has temporally decreased as well. However, it was compensated by the individual consumption reaching a steady situation as explained before.”
Toyo Ink also observed growth in flexible food packaging materials for both Japan and overseas markets, partly reflecting an increase in sales of biomass inks, according to Novo.
For paper containers, sales of functional UV-curable inks grew for packaging materials related to biomass and antibacterial products, he added.
Dr. Frischmann said hubergroup has seen an increase in packaging for hygienic articles within the flexible packaging sector.
Within the sheetfed sector, the company has seen a slight increase for food and pharma packaging, according to Josef Sutter, product management Sheetfed/UV Offset Europe, hubergroup.
According to Siegwerk, the demand for food and beverage packaging for individual consumers has significantly increased in 2020, mainly due to a significantly higher number of supermarket purchases.
Sustainability
According to Research and Markets, the global market for packaging printing is projected to grow from $350.6 billion in 2019 to $440.6 billion by 2024, at an estimated CAGR of 4.7%. The market is driven by factors such as growth in demand for sustainable printing, increasing demand for flexible packaging, cost-effectiveness, and reduced packaging waste.
“The importance of sustainability is high and still rising,” Dr. Frischmann said. “Sustainability has become one of the main drivers in product development and a key element in designing new packaging solutions.
Evan Benbow, VP, product technology and solutions at Wikoff Color, reported that customers in the packaging field are undoubtedly placing more emphasis on sustainability than ever before.
“Brand owners are looking to packaging converters for innovative solutions and improvements,” said Benbow. “Wikoff Color has seen a clear rise in the prioritization of sustainability from purchasing decision-makers. The topic is now a mainstay in request for proposal (RFP) scenarios, and organizations are looking for specific solutions.”
“Sustainability is a key concern as expressed in the sustainability objectives of an increasing number of businesses,” Novo said. “Sustainability begins with the packaging design process. We continually work with our customers at the design stage in finding ways to make packaging systems safer, more sustainable and effective. In some cases, this calls for a fundamental rethink of packaging structures and their many components.”
According to Novo, the Toyo Ink Group is committed to closing the loop on plastic packaging by creating fully recyclable materials and a practical recycling model.
The company partnered with Itochu Corp. “in a plastic packaging recycling venture that is based on an innovative plastic recovery technology for multilayered flexible packaging, based on our unique deinking coating agent and delaminating adhesive technology,” Novo said.
“These technologies make it possible to recover a high-quality plastic material from packaging waste that can be reused to make new products,” added Novo. “A pilot plant based on this plastic recovery process is currently being built in Japan and is set to become operational later this year.”
The Siegwerk representative observed there is a trend towards sustainable packaging, driven by consumer demand as well as regulatory requirements and other factors.
“When it comes to packaging, the development of environmentally sustainable solutions while increasing the recyclability rate of packaging of all kinds remains one of the top challenges,” the Siegwerk representative said. “Fitting within the Circular Economy and other reuse respectively recycling approaches will remain the key drivers for future packaging.
“This includes the development of packaging designed for reuse, recycling and composting while switching to renewable sources. Here, the printing ink industry is one of the key stakeholders to overcome this challenge and is already working on the development of economically viable solutions that would enhance the circularity of packaging. As one of the leading packaging ink providers, we not only support our customers in developing circular packaging and bringing it to the market but also in achieving their individual sustainability and net-zero/net-positive emission targets,” the spokesperson added.
Is there a difference in meeting sustainability guidelines in paper- and cardboard-based products as opposed to foil- and plastic-based packaging?
“Sustainability guidelines differ among segments of the packaging industry, and even further still based on the substrate of choice,” Benbow said. “In paper and paperboard packaging the substrate is inherently renewable and recyclable, so the inks used in those applications are expected to be as environmentally friendly as the customer requirements will allow.
“As for the flexible packaging industry, the recycling streams of the different plastics used to dictate the sustainability guidelines for each. In PET film structures, for example, de-inking is critical, while the ink used on PE and PP films should maintain adhesion,” he added.
“On the one hand, there is a trend from foil to paper-based packaging driven by sustainability. On the other hand, some functionalities are common like barrier features,” Dr. Frischmann said. “In the end, brand owners set up targets that need to be fulfilled by both product segments. Thus, similar strategies are applied.”
According to Novo, even though the target of sustainability is similar, the way to achieve it may be slightly different.
“While in the case of plastic the main objectives are to reduce the amount of plastic by redesigning the packaging and sometimes taking advantages of the properties of the inks and coatings, e.g. barriers, etc., another important target is to create whenever it is possible a packaging suitable for the circular economy, meaning its suitability for the recycling streams (mostly mechanical recycling nowadays),” he said.
“In that sense, the inks or other materials used should be selected in such a way to facilitate – or at least not to represent an obstacle – the ultimate target of sustainability,” Novo continued. “On the other hand, when we think about the paper/cardboard packaging, we mainly need to think about the repulping ability of the printed packaging as well as the biodegradation/composting suitability. In both cases, the design and selection of the inks vary depending on the substrate.”
“Sustainability guidelines always depend on the location, but there are some key topics that are essential for all locations and various packaging types, e.g. full recyclability of packaging while ensuring functionality or use recycled material,” the Siegwerk spokesperson said. “The extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs are for instance broadly applicable to both paper and plastic packaging. However, there are also regulations that specifically apply to one or the other packaging material, such as the single-use plastic regulations. Besides, there are differences due to the available waste and recycling streams of materials impacting single regulations. Paper has a very well-established waste and recycling stream, whereas for some plastic packaging it becomes more complex to close the loop and meet sustainability objectives.”
Additionally, the global packaging printing ink market is anticipated to reach $13.45 billion by 2026 according to a study published by Polaris Market Research.
However, like so many other markets, the packaging sector was affected by COVID-19. That includes raw material availability and price increases.
“Raw materials have been and are constantly under pressure in terms of cost and availability,” said Dr. Lutz Frischmann, global product director Flexible Packaging, hubergroup. “Increasing freight costs massively impact raw materials in general.”
“2020 has been an exceptional year with drastic changes for the overall global economy presenting supply chains with unpredictable challenges,” a representative from Siegwerk told Ink World. “Due to stringent lockdowns, economies have been brought to a complete standstill for several weeks, resulting in an essential reduction in overall demand at the beginning of the pandemic.
“The printing and packaging ink markets suffered from this overall impact like other industries as well,” the spokesperson added.
According to Siegwerk, flexible packaging and labels for packaging witnessed “unusually strong” growth in Europe and the US during the first half of 2020, primarily driven by overstocking during the initial months of the pandemic.
This demand normalized again during the second half of the year, according to Siegwerk.
“The demand for water-based inks for paper & board applications like paper cups, tissues or similar has abruptly collapsed due to restaurant closures and event cancellations in 2020,” the company spokesperson said. “Besides, sheetfed inks for commercial and luxury packaging have experienced a strong collapse in demand as well due to retail shop closures and a related declining demand for luxury packaging.”
Toyo Ink increased sales of eco-friendly products to growing markets in Asia – in particular China, India and Southeast Asia – as regulatory requirements continued to tighten in the region, according to Jose Novo, key account manager, Packaging Materials Department, Liquid Ink Business Section, Marketing Division of Toyo Ink.
“For Toyo Ink, customer demand for sustainable packaging materials held strong, despite a prolonged pandemic,” Novo said. “Overseas sales were affected by the suspension of operations by customers and our own production sites in China, Southeast Asia, India and elsewhere. However, our factories managed to resume operations comparatively quickly on the basis that they manufacture daily necessities.”
Growing segments
The global packaging printing market is projected to grow with the increase in the demand for packaging printing for attractive packaging of food & beverage products across the globe, according to MarketsandMarkets report titled “Packaging Printing Market by Printing Ink (Aqueous, UV-based), Printing Technology (Flexography, Gravure, Digital), Packaging Type (Labels & Tags, Flexible), Application (Food & Beverages, Cosmetics, Pharmaceuticals), & Region - Global Forecast to 2025.”
The food and beverage segment is estimated to be the fastest-growing segment during the forecast period (2020–2025), according to the report.
“In Japan, sales of mainstay gravure inks for packaging were firm for household food, such as frozen food and retort pouches, as people refrained from going out, as well as for hygiene products,” Novo said.
“Watching it from the other side, we saw a slight decline in the demand of packaging for establishments like schools in the Philippines due to the lock-down situations,” Novo added. “Therefore, we guess that the general demand for ‘retail’ food and beverage packaging has temporally decreased as well. However, it was compensated by the individual consumption reaching a steady situation as explained before.”
Toyo Ink also observed growth in flexible food packaging materials for both Japan and overseas markets, partly reflecting an increase in sales of biomass inks, according to Novo.
For paper containers, sales of functional UV-curable inks grew for packaging materials related to biomass and antibacterial products, he added.
Dr. Frischmann said hubergroup has seen an increase in packaging for hygienic articles within the flexible packaging sector.
Within the sheetfed sector, the company has seen a slight increase for food and pharma packaging, according to Josef Sutter, product management Sheetfed/UV Offset Europe, hubergroup.
According to Siegwerk, the demand for food and beverage packaging for individual consumers has significantly increased in 2020, mainly due to a significantly higher number of supermarket purchases.
Sustainability
According to Research and Markets, the global market for packaging printing is projected to grow from $350.6 billion in 2019 to $440.6 billion by 2024, at an estimated CAGR of 4.7%. The market is driven by factors such as growth in demand for sustainable printing, increasing demand for flexible packaging, cost-effectiveness, and reduced packaging waste.
“The importance of sustainability is high and still rising,” Dr. Frischmann said. “Sustainability has become one of the main drivers in product development and a key element in designing new packaging solutions.
Evan Benbow, VP, product technology and solutions at Wikoff Color, reported that customers in the packaging field are undoubtedly placing more emphasis on sustainability than ever before.
“Brand owners are looking to packaging converters for innovative solutions and improvements,” said Benbow. “Wikoff Color has seen a clear rise in the prioritization of sustainability from purchasing decision-makers. The topic is now a mainstay in request for proposal (RFP) scenarios, and organizations are looking for specific solutions.”
“Sustainability is a key concern as expressed in the sustainability objectives of an increasing number of businesses,” Novo said. “Sustainability begins with the packaging design process. We continually work with our customers at the design stage in finding ways to make packaging systems safer, more sustainable and effective. In some cases, this calls for a fundamental rethink of packaging structures and their many components.”
According to Novo, the Toyo Ink Group is committed to closing the loop on plastic packaging by creating fully recyclable materials and a practical recycling model.
The company partnered with Itochu Corp. “in a plastic packaging recycling venture that is based on an innovative plastic recovery technology for multilayered flexible packaging, based on our unique deinking coating agent and delaminating adhesive technology,” Novo said.
“These technologies make it possible to recover a high-quality plastic material from packaging waste that can be reused to make new products,” added Novo. “A pilot plant based on this plastic recovery process is currently being built in Japan and is set to become operational later this year.”
The Siegwerk representative observed there is a trend towards sustainable packaging, driven by consumer demand as well as regulatory requirements and other factors.
“When it comes to packaging, the development of environmentally sustainable solutions while increasing the recyclability rate of packaging of all kinds remains one of the top challenges,” the Siegwerk representative said. “Fitting within the Circular Economy and other reuse respectively recycling approaches will remain the key drivers for future packaging.
“This includes the development of packaging designed for reuse, recycling and composting while switching to renewable sources. Here, the printing ink industry is one of the key stakeholders to overcome this challenge and is already working on the development of economically viable solutions that would enhance the circularity of packaging. As one of the leading packaging ink providers, we not only support our customers in developing circular packaging and bringing it to the market but also in achieving their individual sustainability and net-zero/net-positive emission targets,” the spokesperson added.
Is there a difference in meeting sustainability guidelines in paper- and cardboard-based products as opposed to foil- and plastic-based packaging?
“Sustainability guidelines differ among segments of the packaging industry, and even further still based on the substrate of choice,” Benbow said. “In paper and paperboard packaging the substrate is inherently renewable and recyclable, so the inks used in those applications are expected to be as environmentally friendly as the customer requirements will allow.
“As for the flexible packaging industry, the recycling streams of the different plastics used to dictate the sustainability guidelines for each. In PET film structures, for example, de-inking is critical, while the ink used on PE and PP films should maintain adhesion,” he added.
“On the one hand, there is a trend from foil to paper-based packaging driven by sustainability. On the other hand, some functionalities are common like barrier features,” Dr. Frischmann said. “In the end, brand owners set up targets that need to be fulfilled by both product segments. Thus, similar strategies are applied.”
According to Novo, even though the target of sustainability is similar, the way to achieve it may be slightly different.
“While in the case of plastic the main objectives are to reduce the amount of plastic by redesigning the packaging and sometimes taking advantages of the properties of the inks and coatings, e.g. barriers, etc., another important target is to create whenever it is possible a packaging suitable for the circular economy, meaning its suitability for the recycling streams (mostly mechanical recycling nowadays),” he said.
“In that sense, the inks or other materials used should be selected in such a way to facilitate – or at least not to represent an obstacle – the ultimate target of sustainability,” Novo continued. “On the other hand, when we think about the paper/cardboard packaging, we mainly need to think about the repulping ability of the printed packaging as well as the biodegradation/composting suitability. In both cases, the design and selection of the inks vary depending on the substrate.”
“Sustainability guidelines always depend on the location, but there are some key topics that are essential for all locations and various packaging types, e.g. full recyclability of packaging while ensuring functionality or use recycled material,” the Siegwerk spokesperson said. “The extended producer responsibility (EPR) programs are for instance broadly applicable to both paper and plastic packaging. However, there are also regulations that specifically apply to one or the other packaging material, such as the single-use plastic regulations. Besides, there are differences due to the available waste and recycling streams of materials impacting single regulations. Paper has a very well-established waste and recycling stream, whereas for some plastic packaging it becomes more complex to close the loop and meet sustainability objectives.”