FACHPACK: The trends making the industry tick
As an important indicator of where the European packaging industry is heading, it is natural that FACHPACK, scheduled for 28-30 September this year, also strives to reflect the trends that make the industry tick.
To obtain empirically supported results, the “FACHPACK Trend Radar” has been compiled this year for a second time in collaboration with VEND Consulting. The resulting white paper once again provides a fascinating overview of packaging trends in the near future, and will be available at www.packaging-360.com/trendradar2021 for downloading. “We take the FACHPACK slogan ‘We create the future’ literally, and also hope to add real value for the industry when it comes to trends,” comments
Phillip Blass, Director FACHPACK, NürnbergMesse. “That is why we are very happy once again to be able to offer our community an empirically supported illustration of what industry trends we can expect to become widespread in the next three to five years, in the form of the FACHPACK Trend Radar 2021.”
FACHPACK Trend Radar 2021: The top three trends
Analysis of the gathered data shows that the top three future trends in the packaging industry all have a sustainability angle. At the top of the list is an increase in the use of recycled materials. Recycling plastic waste and the use of recycled plastic in new products help to minimize the use of primary
raw materials. That represents a substantial decrease in carbon emissions compared to production using crude oil. The second top trend that was identified was the use of monomaterials to improve separability. One major challenge in recycling involves separating materials out. According to Germany’s Federal Environment Agency, a material must contain at least 95 percent of the principal component to be
considered a monomaterial. Although packaging consisting of a mix of plastics can still be recycled, the process is much more involved and the properties of the recyclate will be poorer than those of a monomaterial. The third top trend, according to the survey participants, is packaging with
a low impact on resources. Saving materials using this packaging means far fewer primary resources are consumed, which provides significant added value in terms of sustainability in packaging. New production processes are one good way of achieving this. One definite goal, however, is to ensure the
packaging retains its functionality. Thanks to the increase in material efficiency with plastic packaging, the use of materials over a period of 25 years has been reduced by a quarter, for example, equating to a carbon saving of 2.6 million tonnes.
FACHPACK Trend Radar 2021: Download
Interested in seeing all the results? The comprehensive white paper on the FACHPACK Trend Radar 2021, with all the study results and analyses, will be available at www.packaging-360.com/trendradrar2021 for downloading.