Richer Group: Paper Packaging Trends

While 2021 has gone, the year has brought about some interesting trends within the packaging industry. With e-commerce continuing to be a consumer preference, technological advancement and sustainability continue to be a priority, the packaging industry has implemented and adapted to various industry trends worldwide.

Let’s dive deeper into what the packaging industry has experienced so far and what 2021 has in store for the industry. Pls see details below.

1. Freight Cost Increases Affecting Packaging

As the pandemic continues to affect the world in different ways, a big change that has come about is the increased dependence on shipping.

Rising shipping expenses have remained stubbornly in place for many businesses, making it difficult to manage finances efficiently. Businesses have been left with few choices as they are sealed to high shipping expenses and contracts in turn leading businesses to pass this expense on to the customer.

2. Sustainability Initiatives

As customer’s environmental awareness has increased, the packaging industry has seen many shifts over the years.

With more scrutiny over sustainability and regulation, the packaging industry has had to quickly evolve to assuage consumer concerns and ensure that they are operating in an environmentally friendly way.  However, doing so has also caused a lot of confusion for businesses and corporations, as they try to balance their own interests with sustainability and public demand.

3. Replacing Plastics with Paper

There is a dependence on plastics that has been there for a long time, alternatives are coming to the forefront and has started to pose changes to the dependence on plastics.

Paper has always been considered an eco-friendly alternative to plastics in any packaging.While kraft paper being fully recyclable and made from recycled products, the impact of creating paper based packaging has come into question by environmentally conscious consumers as well in 2021. It has come to light that an increased usage of paper will likely accelerate deforestation and lead to other environmental issues surrounding natural resources. Furthermore, it is becoming more evident in 2021 that the use of non-sustainable coatings on paper based products changes the recyclability of most packaging.The aspect of sustainable coatings has only recently become a topic of conversation by eco-conscious consumers, pushing many businesses to strategize their packaging designs to meet consumer demands for fully recyclable products.

4. Designing for Reuse

The conversation around reuse tends to be much more difficult to initiate versus recycling because it requires a behaviour shift.

The concept of reusing packaging hasn’t come up as often, and it’s likely very unfamiliar to most consumers. However, there has been a huge shift in consumer behavior in 2021 with many looking for reusable solutions for the products they purchase.

5. Designing for Recycling

While recycling has been the main topic of discussion in the emergence of environmentally conscious consumers,there has been an overwhelming increase in awareness of recycling, which is always a good thing.

With so much innovation in the packaging industry it’s difficult to say which ones will have the more long term impact on our current landscape. However, it is safe to say that the packaging industry is taking some pretty big steps in 2022 to serve consumer demands and increase packaging efficiency.