One-Third of All Packaging Materials Forecast to be Eco-Friendly by 2014

In the industrialized world, packaging for all types of products has become both necessary and truly ubiquitous. As more people become “modern consumers” around the world, it is an increasing burden on producers, individuals, and the environment. According to a new study from Pike Research, sustainable packaging is a fast-growing segment of the global packaging industry, and will grow to 32% of the total market by 2014, up from just 21% in 2009.

“The $429 billion global packaging industry is huge but extremely fragmented, with no clear market leaders,” says managing director Clint Wheelock. “As such, the move toward sustainable packaging represents a broad-based effort by manufacturers, retailers, industry groups, and governments to promote the design of minimal packaging that can be easily reclaimed. A tremendous amount of innovation is going into reducing energy requirements to manufacture packaging and using more recyclable and compostable materials, but there is still a long way to go.”

The cleantech market intelligence firm forecasts that plastic-based packaging, which represents 35% of all materials used, will be the fastest-growing sector of the sustainable packaging market over the next five years. Metal-based packaging, one of the easiest materials to recycle, will continue to be the sector with the highest percentage of sustainability – by 2014, more than 63% of metal-based packaging will be environmentally friendly.

Pike Research’s study, “Sustainable Packaging”, assesses the current market conditions for packaging and outlines the future opportunities to create more environmentally responsible, sustainable, and eco-friendly packaging processes. The report examines key market drivers and challenges in various industries around the world and includes detailed five-year forecasts for the total packaging market as well as the sustainable packaging sector, segmented by packaging material categories and world regions. An Executive Summary of the report is available for free download on Pike Research’s website.