9 great plastic packaging materials worth investing in

Soft plastic packaging refers to the plastic film packaging. We refer to flat plastic products with thickness less than 0.2 mm as films, 0.2-0.7 mm flat products as sheets, and 0.7 mm flat products as Plates. Currently, plastics account for the second place in the four major packaging materials, namely paper and cardboard, plastics, glass, and metals, while plastic films account for almost half of plastic packaging materials.

The application of plastic is a leap in the history of packaging development. It has four advantages: lightness, convenience, excellence, and beauty. Its position in packaging is still irreplaceable. In the United States, for example, the amount of packaging consumed in 1998 exceeded 121.2 billion U.S. dollars, of which plastic packaging materials accounted for 39.7 billion U.S. dollars, accounting for 32%, ranking second. In Europe, packaging consumption amounted to approximately US$110 billion in 1996, and plastic packaging accounted for 29% (others were metals, glass, wood, etc.). In China, in 2000, the national total packaging value reached 220 billion yuan, and plastic packaging ranked second in all packaging materials (the first is paper), accounting for 32.3%.

According to overseas media reports, in recent years, thanks to the implementation of strong alliances and cross-border cooperation initiatives, the world's plastic packaging industry has achieved new development, and the output of packaging materials and packaging products has grown steadily. New packaging materials, new processes, new technologies, and new products Products continue to emerge. The development of plastic packaging products in the world has emerged in the following characteristics: The new type of polyester packaging is playing a leading role; new types of degradable plastics have attracted attention; companies are vigorously developing metallocene plastics and foam plastics to achieve zero pollution.

Several film market trends

One, BOPP film

According to the special research report of the famous AMI consulting company, “The Latest Trend of Global BOPP Film Market”, in 2001, the world's BOPP film market exceeded 3 million tons for the first time. In the past 25 years, BOPP film has been replaced with cellophane from the beginning and has now become very important. The Flexible Packaging materials are replacing cellophane for fast food, snacks, and tobacco packaging, and are continuing to enter new applications such as noodles, baked goods, bouquets, and labels.

During the majority of the 1990s, the average annual growth rate of industrial BOPP film usage reached 10%, and its production capacity also continued to increase, resulting in excess production capacity in a certain area. Despite the strong industrial demand, the profits of production plants have fallen as manufacturers have tried hard to maintain market share and try to enter new applications. This situation is particularly prominent in Asia and Latin America where PET (polyester) membranes have excess capacity. PET films remain low-priced and BOPP films compete for the market.

Some of the leading manufacturers are trying to adjust the structure and rationalize the scale of the equipment. Due to the increasing competition among companies in the world, manufacturers want to expand their scale to ensure advantages or withdraw from this business, thus providing new entrants with the opportunity to enter the market by purchasing companies such as Dow Chemical Co., Ltd. Moplefan Corporation. In the past 10 years, some important BOPP film manufacturers have indeed undergone some changes. For example, ExxonMobile Chemical Film (formerly Mobile Plastics) has long been the world's largest BOPP film production plant, but its market share has decreased from 12.5% ​​in 1990 to In 2001, it was 7.7%, while Italy's Vifan Group was not big since 10 years ago. It is now the second largest BOPP film manufacturer in the world through new installations in Italy, the United States, and Canada. There are currently more than 200 BOPP membrane plants in the world, and there has been no major change in the number of manufacturers in the past three years.

The largest increase in BOPP film production capacity is in Asia (especially in China), where a small number of small devices have been rapidly added. Applications include household appliances, capacitor films, tape bases, labels and packaging. The potential market in China is very large, so manufacturers mainly supply local or peripheral markets. As manufacturers increase, they are also looking for export opportunities. At present, the export volume of China's BOPP film is very small, and there are actually a large number of imported BOPP films per year. It is expected that China will continue to be the most active market for BOPP film in the future, and both output and consumption will rank first in the world market. The average annual increase in demand before 2010 is more than 9%.

According to AMI's forecast, China's annual consumption in 2010 will reach 1 million tons, and the global market will be close to 5.7 million tons. In addition, the regions and countries with strong market growth are India, the Middle East and Eastern Europe. The consumption base in these regions is very small, while the relatively large and relatively mature markets in the United States, Western Europe and Japan have an average annual growth rate of 4% in 2001-2010. 6% indicates that the application of BOPP in these areas has reached a fairly high level.
Second, polyethylene film

Mastio & Company anticipates that the average annual growth rate of polyethylene film used for dry food packaging is 4% in 2006. The consumption of polyethylene resin in this area increased from 830 million pounds in 2001 to 1 billion pounds in 2006. The consumption of polyethylene for drying food packaging materials accounts for 27% of the total consumption of packaging materials market. Dry food packaging materials can be divided into four end-use markets: candies, fast foods, dried foods, and cardboard liners. Dry food packaging accounts for the largest proportion, accounting for about 50% of the total consumption. Followed by cardboard lining packaging accounted for 25%, and finally the proportion of convenience food and candy.

Although candy packaging accounts for the smallest proportion, it has the fastest growth rate, and it will increase by about 7% annually in 2006. Paperboard linings are estimated to grow by an average of 5% annually, while convenience food packaging is expected to grow by 4% annually. Although dry food packaging accounts for the largest proportion, its development is slowest, and it will increase by about 3% annually in 2006.

The development of dry food packaging film benefits from the following reasons: First, the rapid development of the society. Today's popular lifestyle and demand for convenient and quick foods are contributing factors to the development of polyethylene film packaging materials for dry foods. The growing popularity of fillable, easy-opening, upright bags has also contributed to this market. Convenient bags with zippers and sliders have been commonly used for drying foods and convenience foods such as nuts, biscuits, and the like. Confectionery and tuna are also increasingly popular foods that can be used for closable upright convenience bags. Barrier films are very important for drying foods because they can keep the product fresh for a longer period of time. Second, low density polyethylene (LDPE) dominates. Although many dry food packaging materials require several layers of resins and materials to ensure freshness and quality, low density polyethylene (LDPE) is the most commonly used polyethylene resin in this field. Low-density polyethylene films together account for more than 50% of vinyl in the field because low-density polyethylene offers strength, gloss, softness, and maximum transparency.

Third, nylon film

Due to the bases of food processing such as freezing and distillation, the nylon film market in Asia has increased by nearly 20 percentage points compared to 2001. The demand is close to 20,000 tons. The annual demand for nylon film is approximately 100,000 tons, and Japan accounts for 3 to 5%. The growth rate is about 40,000 tons, the growth rate in Europe is 5%, and the demand growth is stable, while the demand in the Asian market is less than 70,000 tons, but it has a growth rate of 15 to 20%. The Chinese market has a 30% growth rate and an annual demand of about 10,000 tons. Therefore, the market demand rate in Asia is very strong. With the drive of Asia, the global annual growth rate of nylon film is expected to exceed 10%.
Global new film and development trend

First, water-soluble film

Water-soluble plastic packaging film as a novel green packaging material is widely used in the packaging of various products in Europe, America, Japan and other countries, such as pesticides, fertilizers, pigments, dyes, detergents, water treatment agents, mineral additives, washing Agents, concrete additives, photographic chemicals, and gardening chemicals. Its main features are:

1. Degradation is complete, the final products of degradation are CO2 and H2O, which can completely solve the problem of packaging waste disposal;

2. Safe and convenient to use, to avoid direct contact with the packaged product, can be used for the packaging of harmful substances on the human body;

3. Good mechanical properties, heat sealable, high heat seal strength;

4. With anti-counterfeiting function, it can be used as the best weapon for anti-counterfeiting of high-quality products and prolong the life cycle of high-quality products.

Since water-soluble films have environmental characteristics, they have received extensive attention from developed countries in the world. For example, Japan, the United States, and France have mass-produced and marketed such products, such as WTP in the United States, GREENSOL in France, and synthetic chemicals companies in Japan. Their users are also well-known large companies such as Bayer and Henkel. (Henkel), Shell (Shell), etc.

In China, the water-soluble film market is emerging. According to relevant statistics, China's annual need for packaging film accounts for 20% of plastic products, which amounts to approximately 309,000 tons. Even if it accounts for 5% of the market, the annual demand will reach 15,000 tons. Current market prices: U.S. products are 13 to 17 million yuan/ton, Japanese products are 20 to 25 million yuan/ton, domestic product sales prices are only 40% of the United States, and the average selling price is 60,000 yuan/ton, so that The price is very competitive. With the development and progress of society, people are paying more and more attention to protecting the environment in which we live. In particular, China is about to join the WTO, with the developed countries in the world, and the environmental protection requirements for packaging are increasing. As a result, water-soluble packaging films are used in China. The application prospect must be very broad.
Second, black and white film

Black/white film packaging (Black/white film for packaging) is a novel packaging that has become popular in recent years. In developed countries such as Japan, due to their excellent heat-sealing properties, unique light-blocking and oxygen-blocking functions, and advantages of storage and transportation, and relatively low prices, they have been widely used in the packaging of fresh milk. This trend of foreign packaging milk consumption market should arouse our great attention. Fresh milk black and white film will be the development direction of milk packaging in the next few years. It can substantially reduce the cost of product packaging on the basis of maintaining the shelf life of fresh milk, meet environmental protection requirements, and avoid the defects of traditional packaging. At present, China's dairy companies use fresh milk packaging black and white film dependent on imports.

Fresh-keeping packaging black and white film is generally composed of three or four layers of different polyethylene and black and white masterbatch co-extruded composite. Its heat seal performance is an important physical indicator of packaging. For milk packaging black and white film, excellent heat sealing performance can ensure that the milk in the automatic packaging line has a wide range of heat sealing temperature, help to improve the packaging speed, and in the cold storage and transportation process is not broken bags. The black-and-white film heat seal layer generally uses a metallocene linear low density polyethylene (MLLDPE) with a high degree of branching and uniformity and a narrow molecular weight distribution to improve the heat seal performance of the black-and-white film package. It is suitable for the high thermal bonding strength in the automatic packaging of fresh milk packaging method (vertical forming - filling - heat sealing), and will not break bags under the impact of fresh milk, thus ensuring the quality of fresh milk packaging.

Third, automatic corrosion of the packaging film

Some packaging companies in Japan have developed auto-degradable packaging films to avoid environmental pollution caused by discarded packaging.

The autocorrosive packaging film uses wheat protein (ie, gluten) or corn, sweet potato starch, glycerin, glycol, polysilicone, etc., and is mixed, dried, and heated at a pressure of 150,000 grams per square meter. Pressed. The film is semi-transparent, made into a packaging bag or box that is used up and buried in soil after being used up. It can be quickly biodegraded and turned into fertilizer.
Fourth, active plastic packaging film

Australian National Shipping Company has developed an active plastic packaging film that enables perishable products such as packaged fresh fruits, vegetables and flowers to maintain their freshness for several weeks, and better solve the long-distance of these products. Transportation issues.

This kind of fresh-keeping packaging film is a breathable film. It can permeate the carbon dioxide and oxygen produced, keeping the perishable product asleep. In addition, the organic chemical agent for the film