Packaging market sectors

Cadbury will use a cornstarch polymer for the chocolate tray in its Milk Tray range. For the packaging market, the sector with the highest consumption of thermoplastics,... 

The metals used to manufacture cans, ends and closures are either steel (tin plated or chromium passivated) or aluminium. In most cases they are coated on the food contact surface with a resinous or polymeric protective coating to avoid interaction between the foodstuff and the metal. However, there is a well defined sector of the tinplate food packaging market where no protective organic coating is needed or used. 

During the past century, petrochemicals have become a vital part of industrial and economic activity around the world. Synthetic polymers are an important part of numerous industrial products, consumer goods, and healthcare applications. Materials such as polystyrene, polyester, and polyvinyl chloride are used in an enormous range of products across a wide variety of market sectors [5]. Textile production, food packaging, construction materials, and communication and entertainment technologies are all reliant on a plentiful supply of plastics. Petrochemicals have also been used extensively as food preservatives, vitamin supplements, refrigerants, antifreeze solutions, cosmetics, detergents, pharmaceuticals, and disinfectants. Chemicals derived from oil have enormous industrial, economic, and social importance. 

In recent years the U.S. packaging market for thermoplastics was approximately divided up between resin types as follows HDPE, 31% LDPE, 12% LLDPE, 16% polypropylene (PP), 14% poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET), 15%. In the year 2000 the packaging sector in the United States used over 21 million tons of resin. 

Chapter 2 provides an executive summary of the most important points arising Irom the report. There follows an overview of significant trends in the four largest plastics market sectors, namely packaging, construction, automotive, and electrical and electronic applications (Chapter 3). This is followed by a brief discussion of some regional issues. 

The American packaging market was valued at 119 billion a year in 2002, with the European equivalent estimated at about 128 billion and the Japanese one at 68 billion. The flexible plastics sector alone used 4.8 M tonnes of polymer in 2002, over 85% of which was polyolefin. 

In 2003, world plastic production amounted to approximately 197 millions tonnes. A significant quantity (25%) of this total was used in the packaging sector, and around 40% of the European packaging market counted for plastics (see Figure 10.1). 

We have charted the growth since 1995, and now almost 20 years later, we can see a maturing but still expanding and innovating sector. Much of this expansion has been under the radar , and therefore, it has not been visible as a market sector in its own right within packaging or nonwoven industry sectors. 

The imique properties of i-PP produced with ansa-metallocene catalysts, including their low content of easily migrating short-chain polymer, desirable in particular for food and medical packaging and related purposes [72], has driven the industrial use of i-PP produced with ansa-metallocene catalysts in some demanding market sectors. However, higher costs, the dominance of homo-polypropylene, improved Ziegler-Natta catalysts and, last but not least, a complicated patent situation have as of today restricted their use in the i-PP field to specialized niche applications. 

The use is examined of plastics in medical applications with reference to the US market for additives for these products. The use of plastics for medical applications, which include products and components of equipment, and packaging, is expected to exceed 4 billion US dollars in the next two years, with perhaps double or treble that figure for the world market, it is forecasted. The regulatory bodies governing the use of additives are reviewed, and specific additives discussed include plasticisers, stabilisers, conductive additives, and lubricants. The production of compounds for use in the medical sector is examined with reference to the activities of leading companies, and brief details of product developments are included. 

Packaging is not the main market for foams and statistics distinguish this sector only for EPS, where it accounts for roughly 30% of all EPS applications for a typical industrialized country. The annual growth rate varies according to the country but is, more or less, in line with the average for plastics growth. 

Harden s (27) market survey of the growth of polyolefin foams production and sales shows that 114 x 10 kg of PE was used to make PE foam in 2001. The growth rate for the next 6 years was predicted as 5-6% per year, due to recovery in the US economy and to penetration of the automotive sector. In North America, 50% of the demand was for uncrosslinked foam, 24% for crosslinked PE foams, 15% for EPP, 6% for PP foams, 3% for EVA foams and 2% for polyethylene bead (EPE) foam. As protective packaging is the largest PE foam use sector, PE foam competes with a number of other packaging materials. Substitution of bead foam products (EPP, EPE, ARCEL copolymer) by extruded non-crosslinked PE foams, produced by the metallocene process was expected on the grounds of reduced costs. Compared with EPS foams the polyolefin foams have a lower yield stress for a given density. Compared with PU foams, the upper use temperature of polyolefin foams tends to be lower. Eor both these reasons, these foams are likely to coexist. 

Besides these large companies, which offer a range of additives as extensive as possible, if only to recoup research expenses and the high cost of tests required to obtain approval of the packages, there are a number of chemical companies that have also established a foothold in the market of lube oil specialties. Their reason for doing so was that they had acquired know-how in the chemical sector leading to the products marketed. 

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