Global plastic packaging market poised to surge to US$375 bln by 2020

Plastic Packaging (Rigid Plastic Packaging and Flexible Plastic Packaging) market for food & beverages, industrial, household products, personal care, medical and other applications states that global demand for plastic packaging market was valued at US$270 bln in 2014, and is expected to reach US$375 bln in 2020, growing at a CAGR of 4.8% between 2015 and 2020. In terms of volume, the global plastic packaging market stood at 81,750.0 kilo tons in 2014, as per Zion Research. Plastic packaging is a type of casing in the form of plastic containers, bags, pouches, and jars to be used for food & beverages, personal care products, household products, and industrial goods. High-density polyethylene (HDPE), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polypropylene (PP), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) are mainly used in plastic packaging. Plastics can be easily molded or altered into any shape as per the packaging requirement of goods. It is one of the fastest growing segments of the packaging industry. It combines the best qualities of plastic to deliver a wide range of protective properties while using minimum quantity of material. Plastic packaging is broadly used in consumer products, and in industrial applications. It is used to market, protect, and distribute a wide range of products. Strong growth of global food and beverage market is mainly driving demand for plastic packaging. Swiftly expanding pharmaceutical and medical industry has been resulted into rapid growth of plastic packaging. Moreover, uperior aesthetic value and excellent barrier properties of plastic against moisture and air are another important factor driving demand for plastic packaging. However, fluctuating prices of raw materials is one of the major challenges for the manufacturers of plactic packaging. Rigid and flexible are two types of packaging products. In rigid plastic packaging, product is packed in a rigid cases or container and for flexible packaging the material used is flexible that takes the shape of the products when it is packed. Furthermore, rigid plastic packaging segment dominate the market with significant shares in 2014. And it is expected to continue this trend owing to the demand from pharmaceutical industry. Food & beverages packaging applications segment was the largest segment of global plastic packaging industry and accounted for around 55% share of the entire market in 2014. It is expected to remain prolong application over the forecast period owing to high demand of packed food. Moreover, plastic packaging is expected to witness the fastest growth from the medical application segment in next five years. Asia Pacific was dominating regional market for plastic packaging owing to strong demand from China and India. It accounts for around 35% share of the overall market volume consumption in 2014 and further expected to remain major regional market for plastic packaging due to the heavy consumption of packed foodstuff and changing lifestyles during the next five years. Asia Pacific was followed by North America and Europe. Both the regions are expected to have lucrative demand during forecast period.