The bulk container packaging industry helps facilitate the safe, efficient packaging and transport of food, chemicals, oils, beverages, and other products. Flexible packaging, such as IBC (intermediate bulk container) liners, holds the majority market share, and that is expected to grow until at least 2024.
What is so important about bulk container liners and why are so many different industries embracing them over other bulk container options? Cost efficiency, high performance, suitability for certain products, and a rise in global exports make bulk container liners highly attractive.
What Is Behind Recent and Projected Bulk Container Liner Growth?
Several factors are responsible for driving growth in flexible bulk container liners. One of the most significant is the rise in global exports, according to a Newswire press release for the new Global Market Insights report on bulk container packaging.
Flexible bulk container liners are lightweight and they do not require cleaning the way that rigid drums do. They reduce the risk of product contamination, and they transport more product than other containers of comparable size and cost. Whether transporting food or chemicals across the country or around the world, flexible bulk containers liners save money and offer superior product safety.
Which Factors Could Affect Future Growth?
Demand for affordable, efficient packaging is one of the largest driving factors behind such rapid growth, and that is expected to continue, according to the report. In Europe, for example, wine exports are up and gaining. “Asia Pacific will expand at the highest growth rate due to escalating exports of oils and bulk chemicals to North America and Europe,” according to Transparency Market Research. Flexible containers and container liners make high-volume transport via sea or rail more efficient and cost-effective. In the United States and Canada, bulk container liners are in especially high demand for oilseeds, feeds, corn, and grains.
Certain factors could affect all flexible packaging options negatively. Because many flexible liners use petroleum in their manufacture, the volatility of the crude oil market could also affect the cost of flexible bulk container liners. The same is true for any packaging, as raw material cost always influences the affordability of the end product.
How Can Flexible Bulk Container Liners Improve Efficiency?
Flexible bulk container liners offer tremendous benefits on several fronts. They require fewer raw materials to manufacture and hold more product with less packaging. Flexible liners offer at least twofold protection against contamination. Liners are disposed of and require no cleaning, and many liner materials can provide a protective barrier.
Another significant benefit is the innovative ways that flexible liners can be used. For example, Air-Assist intermediate bulk container liners have an attached air bladder that expands as the product is dispensed. Using gravity and pressure, more product is dispensed. For high-viscosity products, such as oils and jams, it can significantly reduce product waste.
Bulk container liners have few drawbacks and numerous benefits. They are ecologically friendly, help support recent and future growth in exports, protect against damage and contamination, and help control costs. Now, they can even help cut waste down to almost nil.
To learn more about flexible, bulk container liners and how they can improve your business, contact us for a free sample and download our Air-Assist brochure today.
