Rising demand for paper packaging
In the wake of digitization, many believed that the paper industry would disappear, but the paper packaging industry has ridden the storm. Although the increased use of digital media has caused global graphics paper production to fall more than 30 percent since 2010, packaging paper and paperboard production has increased by more than 22 percent to a high of 249 million metric tons. One of the biggest drivers of this growth has been the rise of e-commerce.The increase in paperboard packaging production in recent decades has mainly come from China, which is now the world’s leading packaging paper and paperboard producer. In 2000, China produced 17.4 million metric tons of packaging paper and paperboard, and by 2020 its annual output had quadrupled to 70.3 million metric tons.
What are the main types of paper packaging?
Some of the main types of paper packaging include folding cartons, paper bags and sacks, and corrugated boxes. Corrugated boxes are commonly used for shipping heavy goods due to their high strength. Containerboard is used to manufacture corrugated boxes and is the most consumed paper type worldwide. Containerboard consumption is projected to continue rising over the next decade, reaching 220 million tons by 2030.Paper packaging is considered more sustainable than plastic. Because of this, several major companies such as Apple have shifted towards using mostly paperboard packaging for their products.
