People’s demand for plastic films around the world is predicted to reach approximately 68 million tons in the year of 2016, and will grow at an average annual rate of 4% during the period from 2016 to 2021, reaching nearly 81 million tons. The development of the global plastic films market depends upon the socioeconomic trends. Among the economic influences, factors of lifestyle, demographic changes, the development of new materials and packaging technologies are most important. These trends have enhanced the value of plastic films and have made them even more attractive to brand owners and consumers.
plastic films can help suppliers get rid of suffering from reduced margins as a result of low polymer prices. At the same time, consumers can use more plastic films instead of packaging due to the environmental protection and lifestyle changes.
Since once many traditional plastic films are produced, they could only generate little or no waste. Therefore, they can reduce waste at the beginning, it’s very useful for people to protect the environment.
Changes of the lifestyle are driving consumers’ demand for new packaged products. As the middle class has grown and disposable incomes have risen, consumers have become increasingly time-constrained. This situation has forced them to choose processed and prepared goods that are packaged with lightweight plastic films. Because plastic films can offer consumers convenience and portability. So people are more and more tend to use this kind of light package instead of the traditional packages.
There is a rapidly increasing demand for packaging materials to provide greater protection of their contents, especially for food, beverage and pharmaceutical applications. As the use of plastic films has become common, concerns about their ability to allow the exchange of gases and vapors have arisen. Smart materials are also increasingly playing a role in active and intelligent packaging to enhance product shelf life and to provide a visual indication of product status and condition.
In 2015, the largest segment of the plastic film market was automated packaging film, with sales reaching 22.05 million tons. The second largest plastic film market segment was plastic bags and sacks, with total sales reaching approximately 21.72 million tons, but this segment is expected to maintain the lowest growth rate over the next five years because of an ever-increasing environmental lobby regarding the use of self-service shopping bags—many areas around the world have imposed bag bans or charged a levy whenever such bags are used.