According to a report by U.S.-based market intelligence company Transparency Market Research, the green packaging market is expected to surpass US $178 billion by 2018.
Trend 1: Plant-based Plastics – Moving Beyond Petroleum-Derived Plastics
Plant-based plastics, or bioplastics, are poised to play a greater role in packaging and will play an even greater role in shaping consumer attitudes towards brands. Companies such as Coca-Cola are plunging deep in the bioplastics domain. According Coca-Cola‘s website, as of June 2014, over 25 billion of its PlantBottle™ packages are in the market in about 40 countries. Coca-Cola claims this has translated into 525,000 barrels of oil being saved. Initiatives such as Coca-Cola‘s will be gaining attention in 2015; companies need to take awareness of this trend aimed at reducing dependence on plastics derived from fossil-based resources.
Trend 2: Lean is Mean – Put Your Packaging on a Diet
The big brands have already set goals to reduce packaging at the source; 2015 will be the year the mid-size and small brands will feel the pressure to also reduce packaging at the source. The approach brands will need to take is: decrease the size of packaging, make it lighter, and use fewer materials. Phasing out heavier materials like glass and switching over to other environmentally-friendly rigid packaging alternatives will be the focus.
Trend 3: Recycled Packaging – It’s About Making the Best of Waste
Every day, millions of tons of waste is generated in the process of manufacturing and transporting packaging materials. What this means for brands, is that consumers are likely already aware of these environmental issues through the media. They want to know where a brand’s packaging material has been sourced from, what materials have been used for packaging, or whether the packaging can be recycled.
Source: Business 2 Community
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