Corrugated cardboard: the good numbers of the supply chain

The Italian corrugated cardboard industry is growing: in 2017 over 6.7 billion square meters of packaging material (+ 2.82%) was produced.

It is the green packaging material par excellence, natural and recyclable (9 packs out of 10 are recovered every year) as well as versatile and resistant.
The corrugated cardboard supply chain in Italy employs around 15 thousand people, for an annual production in surface that in 2017 exceeded 6.7 billion square meters.
A supply chain that continues to grow, thanks also (but not only) to the thrust of e-commerce: This was communicated by GIFCO, the Italian Group Producing Corrugated Carton, that on 18 and 19 May gathered its associates in Viareggio (LU) for the annual balance meeting.
The meeting offered the opportunity to take stock of the state of the art of the sector which, in 2017, recorded a total national production - in weight - of 3.8 million tons, with a growth of 1.95% on 2016. Speaking in terms of surface, the growth is even more evident: featuring a total 6.758.728.000 square meters of corrugated cardboard produced during the year, in fact, against 6.5 billion in 2016 (+ 2.82%).
Confirming the state of health of the sector, the turnover of the companies that compose it amount to about 4 billion euros (in Europe Italy occupies second place after Germany). In 2017 the production of GIFCO members alone amounted to 6.3 billion square meters of corrugated cardboard (+ 2.1% on 2016), compared to 7.8 billion square meters produced by the German industry (+ 3%). France and Great Britain are respectively the third and fourth European producers in terms of volumes and surfaces.

Raw materials and recycling. Offering a high and constant performance, the average weight of corrugated cardboard in 2017 is 561 g/m2 (566 g in 2016, and from 2000 to today the average weight of packaging has decreased by 44 g/m2), thanks to evermore performant cardboard and the continuous technological evolution of the machines used in converting.
To date 80% of the packaging produced by companies associated with GIFCO is made of recycled paper which at the end of its lifespan is completely recyclable. Thanks to Comieco’s efforts, every year in Italy, 89% of the paper and cardboard packaging is recovered and 80% recycled..