FMN | July 18th, 2022

Flexible Packaging Market Stabilizes The global flexible packaging market was worth around $160.1

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Sustainable Packaging Demand Swells by Simon Buswell, Director at Eco Flexibles F rom food, grocery and everyday consumer goods through fashion and high-end automotive markets, every single in- dustry in today’s business landscape is guided in varying de- grees by the need for sustainability. Whether that’s supply chain efficiency, CO2 reductions, material innovations, or social and economic programs, there is an enormous drive towards ‘green’ business that minimizes impact on the planet’s resources.

“With a global consumer base more actively switched-on to matters of the environment, sustainability is intrinsically connected to retail and commercial performance.” — Simon Buswell

billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow to about $206.1 billion by 2028, with a compound annu- al growth rate (CAGR) of approxi- mately 4.3 percent over the forecast period, according to a new report from Zion Market Research. Flexible packaging has gained substantial demand over the past few years as innovation in the packaging industry has seen a major impetus owing to changing consumer preferences and require- ments in multiple end use applica- tions across various industry verti- cals, according to the report. Packaging Solutions Rising demand for packaging solutions, increasing sales of mul- tiple products, increasing focus

With a global consumer base more actively switched-on to matters of the environment, sustainability is intrinsically connected to retail and commercial performance. The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) for example, notes that global online searches for sustainable goods have increased by an enor- mous 71 percent from 2016 in what the organization terms ‘the great eco-wakening’. The WWF notes that while the bulk of the growth is in Western markets, there is also significant development in transition economies such as China and In- dia. In short, ‘green’ has gone global.

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July 18, 2022

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Of course, brands owners are finding huge op- portunity on the table when it comes to boosting sustainability and meeting the rising consumer de- mand for ‘green’ product options. For example, the Boston Consulting Group found in a recent global consumer survey that almost three-quarters of shop- pers were actively willing to spend more money for packaging that is demonstrably sustainable. On crowded store shelves, brands are looking for every competitive edge available to win market share and solidify the bottom line – which means there’s true commercial value to thinking ‘green’ when it comes to packaging and product design. Moving In New Directions However, as sustainability continues to become the benchmark and not the exception, it seems to be moving in many different directions when it comes to using this market acceleration to predict the future of consumer behavior. So, besides shap- ing today’s packaging and product development, what does the evolving sustainability narrative ac- tually tell us about today’s consumers? A crucial element for brands to understand is that the consumer is getting more hands-on with sustainability, particularly when it comes to plas- Sustainable Packaging (Cont’d from Page 1)

tics and packaging. They want to know the origin and provenance of packaging, spurred on by more widespread communication of recycled content – now becoming a common part of on-pack copy. Historically, substrate terms such as HDPE, PCR, PET and PP were kept in the background when it comes to consumer communications. Today’s savvi- er consumer, however, is becoming more comfort- able with the technicalities of plastics. As a result, there is increasing understanding that the plastic it- self is not the core environmental issue – the prob- lem largely resides with consumer use and waste infrastructure, so it’s not as simple as it appears on the surface. Additionally, increasing media cover- age such as Netflix’s hit documentary Seaspiracy have put plastics under the microscope to report that packaging is often scapegoated when it comes to waste. Changing behaviors at scale can be a real chal- lenge, but ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ remains a core tenet. With clarity and transparency top of the agenda, there is great opportunity for brand own- ers to go deeper with their consumer-facing sus- tainability claims. At Eco Flexibles, one of the major forces that drives our flexible packaging business is the change from mixed plastics to mono polymers, which are easier to recycle without compromising

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Flexo Market News July 18, 2022 3

Flexible Packaging (Cont’d from Page 1)

on sustainable packaging, increasing disposable income, the growing popularity of online sales channels, and the emergence of e-commerce are expected to be major factors influencing flexible packaging market growth through 2028. The pandemic of 2020 resulted in a major change in consumer trends across the world owing to the drastic effects of widespread coronavirus infec- tions. This sudden change in demand and supply impacted the overall packaging market and had a substantially adverse impact on demand for flexi- ble packaging in 2020. Moving From Lockdown With lockdown restrictions being common across the world, manufacturing and supply chain activity came to a near halt due to a lack of labor and raw material. Closure of multiple sales and distribution channels also impacted the sales of flexible pack- aging throughout the year. However, the flexible packaging market is expect- ed to make a steady comeback in the post-pan- demic era and is expected to surge as the world returns to normalcy and demand for flexible pack- aging through 2028 bolsters. Remaining Focused Increasing focus on waste management has sub- stantially propelled the demand for sustainable products and since packaging waste is a major con- tributor to the global waste problem, the need to develop sustainable packaging is more prominent than it was ever before and hence this is expect- ed to provide a lucrative opportunity to flexible packaging market players over the forecast period. Increasing research and development activity to develop eco-friendly sustainable packaging is ex- pected to be a major trend for flexible packaging market growth through 2028 and flexible packag- ing market players are expected to capitalize on this trend over the forecast period to boost their profit numbers. Plastic is and has been a major part of all kinds of packaging across the world and since plastic is a major harm to the environment its use is being restricted and limited across the world. These re- strictions are expected to be major challenges for flexible packaging market growth through 2028. Increasingly stringent mandates about the use of plastic in packaging are anticipated to prove to be a major challenge for multiple flexible packaging companies across the world.

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4 July 18, 2022 Flexo Market News

Smurfit Kappa Reduces CO2 Emissions Smurfit Kappa has completed a large-scale sustain- ability project at its Zülpich, Germany, paper mill, which reportedly significantly reduces the plant’s CO2 emissions. The €11.5 million investment in- cluded a major redesign of the plant’s multi-fuel boiler to provide a more sustainable fuel source for the generation of steam and electricity. The mill, which produces approximately 500,000 tons of paper annually, is now powered by a com- bination of its own biogas, which is a by-product of its circular water treatment plant, natural gas, and the residual materials or so-called ‘rejects’ which occur in the paper recycling process that would otherwise be considered waste. The project reduces CO2 emissions at the Zülpich paper mill by more than 25 percent and saves 55,000 tons of CO2 annually, which represents a 2 percent reduction in Smurfit Kappa’s global CO2 emissions. Smurfit Kappa has the goal of achiev- ing a 55 percent intensity reduction in fossil CO2 emissions by 2030 and at least net zero CO2 emis- sions by 2050. The packaging provider has also had its 2030 emissions reductions targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative as being in-line with the Paris agreement. The Zülpich circular approach is also said to ex- tend beyond its own operations to create loops with Smurfit Kappa’s Parenco and Roermond paper mills in the Netherlands. The rejects from Parenco and Roermond are reportedly a valuable source of fuel for Zülpich’s boiler. All4Labels Launches Star Portfolio All4Labels Global Packaging Group has launched Star eco-innovative portfolio of products and ser- vices. It will reportedly offer customers a range of completely recyclable, reusable, and renewable products complemented with services to promote and enable recyclability. The Star Portfolio will be progressively released to the market in the second half of 2022.This is a key step to support the employment of materials with recycled content, closing the loop and empowering circularity across the entire value chain, according to the company. The Star Portfolio includes Star Products and Star Services for multiple labeling and packaging ap- plications. Star Services will support Sustainability across the entire value chain.

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