The plastic packaging market in Italy

Plastic packaging is ubiquitous in the retail sector and is used to display, store, and transport consumer products such as cosmetics, food products (fruits and vegetables, meat, etc.), and cleaning products.

Along with cardboard packaging, which is being developed mainly due to e-commerce, plastic packaging has become indispensable due to its versatility, which allows for the production of packaging of different rigidity, transparency and complexity.

Estimated at hundreds of billions of dollars, the global plastic packaging market is expected to grow between 2021 and 2028 at a compound annual growth rate of 4.2 percent, driven by the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. The growth of the modern retail sector, as well as the acceleration of e-commerce, particularly in emerging economies, is supporting the growth of the plastic packaging market.

In Italy, although plastic packaging accounts for only 20 percent of volume production, it covers more than half of the packaging industry's sales. In 2019, the growth of the plastic packaging sector was 2.6 percent, led mainly by the food sector. In fact, 74.5 percent of plastic packaging was for food and beverage. Moreover, major manufacturers such as Sealed Air, Gualapack or Goglio have food and beverage packaging as their common denominator. However, contrary to the global trend, only 3.8 percent of production is for pharmaceutical use.

The Covid 19 health crisis has had a positive impact on plastic packaging production. In fact, the dietary changes of Italian consumers have led them to consume more packaged products rather than choose bulk foods, driven by the fear of contamination. In addition to food, the e-commerce sector is also driven by demand for plastic packaging, including for health reasons. Finally, the pandemic is also driving the use of non-reusable plastic to limit the risk of infection, which also fuels demand for plastic packaging.