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Packaging Volume Expected to Grow, with Shake-Ups For Certain Types

Folding cartons and glass bottles are the predicted underdogs of packaging popularity by 2025, after a dismal outlook in years prior.

Glass bottles had a negative CAGR from 2016 to 2021, but the pack type has seen growth in recent years.
Glass bottles had a negative CAGR from 2016 to 2021, but the pack type has seen growth in recent years.
Getty Images

Overall packaging volume could grow by over 30 billion units from 2021 to 2025, and that growth is coupled with some unexpected changes in packaging popularity.

That’s according to PMMI Business Intelligence’s 2022 report “Future of Packaging and Sustainability.” The report predicts folding cartons and glass bottles will gain significant momentum by 2025.

Folding cartons, glass bottles gain momentum

Folding cartons are predicted to make the biggest jump in popularity between 2021 and 2025, with 38.9 billion units and a 1.4% combined annual growth rate (CAGR). That’s compared to 36.8 billion units and zero combined annual growth from 2016 to 2021.

The report predicts continued popularity for folding cartons through 2030, driven by rapid compostable and certified paper-based packaging growth.Folding cartons and glass bottles are standout packaging types looking toward 2025.Folding cartons and glass bottles are standout packaging types looking toward 2025.PMMI Business Intelligence, 2022 Future of Packaging and Sustainability

One chief packaging officer at a packaging manufacturer says compostable packaging, like folding cartons, can be exciting, but it still needs work.

“At end of life lots of municipal collection facilities don’t actually provide composting, they just look at it as plastic and dispose of it in a landfill,” the packaging officer explains.

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