Flexible packaging: figures and market

Jan 06, 2021

The market in Italy

The data shared in this analysis refers to the production of flexible packaging obtained by laminating films of different materials: plastics, aluminium, cellulosic and, more recently, also biodegradable/compostable films. The Italian market also showed an increase both in turnover (+3%) and in production, marking a similar growth in terms of tons.

The number of people employed in 2019 also increased by 1.8% compared to 2018.

Compared to the entire national packaging production, flexible converter packaging accounts for 2% in terms of tons, but 8% in terms of turnover: a turnover that, in 2019, exceeded 2,200 million euros with a production of 403 t/000.

55% of production, quantifiable in 222 t/000, was exported, reaching a growth rate compared to 2018 of +3.3%. Imports are very few and tend to be constant. Apparent consumption grew by +2.8% (table 1).

Table 1. Personal data sheet of the Italian market of flexible polylaminates.

	2016	2017	2018	2019
Turnover millions of euros	2,091	2,132	2,184	2,250
Companies operating in Italy	-	-	-	80
Approx. workforce	6,660	6,800	6,991	7,115
Production t/000	373	382	391	403
Exports t/000	205	210	215	222
Imports t/000	3	3	3	3
Apparent usage	171	175	179	184

Source: Italian Packaging Institute elaborations on Giflex data

This type of packaging registers excellent long-term trend performances: as far as production expressed in tons is concerned, over the last 10 years, it has registered an average annual growth rate of +3.9%.

Even in economically complicated periods, when the packaging sector has fallen by -12%, flexible converter packaging has held its own, containing losses at a lower rate of -3%, losses quickly recovered in subsequent years. (table 2)

Table 2. Comparison of flexible packaging production evolution from converter (FC) with total packaging (TOT. PACK.). 2007 base indexed values referred to the tons produced.

	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
FC	100	99	95.7	101.3	108	108	112.3	116.7	121.7	124.3	127.3	130.3	134.3
TOT. PACK.	100	96.9	85.9	90.5	90	85.5	85.2	88.6	90.7	93.6	96.7	98.5	100.6

Areas of application

What makes this type of packaging so high performing is certainly its ability to adapt to emerging needs in terms of product packaging, especially food packaging: the food sector absorbs 93%.

In the food sector, the area of greatest use is undoubtedly convenience fruit and vegetables: in constant growth, in 2019 it accounted for 27.6%.

In second place among the areas of use are bakery products and pasta, with an 18.9% share.

Then there are cheeses, which account for 15.8% of the sector, down from 2018 due to the negative trend registered by the sector.

Uses in the food sector are however numerous: 14.9% featured by the “other” listing includes, for example, ready meals (up compared to 2018), but also sauces, candies, baby food, yoghurt, honey, jams, and beverages (mainly juices). Precisely in relation to the latter listing, it can be seen that the use of flexible packaging is slightly affecting the positioning of small format briks.

Continuing the list of sectors of use, we find the processed meat area, i.e. cured meats (5.3% of the entire sector, slightly down compared to 2018); frozen foods follow at a short distance with 4.9%.

The breakdown in the food sector ends with coffee (3.8%) and pet food (2.5% slightly down).

The non-food part is represented almost exclusively by the cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and household detergents sectors, which account for 6% of the market. In cosmetics, single-dose formats are seen to be particularly developed, while in household detergents, bottle refills show pride of place (table 3).

Table 3. Segmentation of the use of flexible converter packaging (% values referred to tons of flexible packaging).

	2018	2019
Bakery products and pasta	18.70%	18.90%
Cheese	16.90%	15.80%
Processed meats (cold-cut, cured meats)	5.40%	5.30%
Frozen foods	4.80%	4.90%
Convenience products	27.00%	27.60%
Coffee	3.60%	3.80%
Petfood	2.60%	2.50%
Other foodstuffs	14.70%	14.90%
Total food	93.70%	93.70%
Pharmaceutical	3.00%	3.00%
Domestic detergents	3.30%	3.30%
Other non foods	6.30%	6.30%
Total	100%	100%

Source: Italian Packaging Institute Database

Raw materials for the production of converter flexible packaging

In 2019 there was a 1% increase in the use of paper in the production of flexible converter packaging, at the expense of the use of aluminium, which fell by 1%. There was also an increase in the use of plastic polymers, on average +0.8%.

The use of biodegradable/compostable materials continues to grow by combining paper + biodegradable/compostable plastic or plastic + plastic, in both cases biodegradable/compostable.

These are laminated products designed and developed following the demand for packaging with low environmental impact. This type of lamination is used, for example, in the production of pouches for the packaging of pasta and biscuits.

Analysing the figures of the Data Bank edited by the Italian Packaging Institute, with reference to the above mentioned categories, it can be seen that, in 2019, out of about 61,000 tons of flexible converter packaging used in these types of packaging, about 18% were made through the coupling of biodegradable/compostable materials (+2% compared to 2018).

Challenges for the future

Environmental sustainability remains the great challenge of the flexible packaging sector. At the moment, the efforts of operators are moving in two directions: on the one hand, the use of biodegradable/compostable materials, on the other hand, the design of recyclable solutions, in order to bring flexible packaging towards a circular economy, obviously keeping all its functions intact.

ItaliaImballaggio November-December 2020