The American plastics industry employs approximately one million workers and contributes $375 billion to the economy. Producing everything from zippered pouches wholesale to rollstock packaging, this industry continues to work to create products that help maintain the freshness of food, as well as flexible packaging products for several cleaning products.
In an attempt to provide safe and durable packaging, while at the same time create a product that is more environmentally friendly, plastics plants are constantly experimenting and researching new techniques. Modern plastic food packaging, for example, helps keep food fresh and protects it from contamination. Packaging experts estimate that each pound of plastic packaging can actually reduce food waste by up to 1.7 pounds. Whether it is heat-sealed plastic pouches and wraps or zippered pouches wholesale, manufacturers across the country continue to look for engineering techniques that can improve current packaging options.
The future of this industry is so great that the global market for flexible packaging is forecast to grow at an annual average rate of 3.4% between the years of 2015 and 2020. Experts predict the entire industry will reach the $248 billion mark by the end of this decade.
The flexible packaging market, combined with digital printing options, is encouraging companies throughout the industry to focus on sustainable printing and packaging options. While some environmentalists would like consumers to believe that plastics are never a good packaging option, these same people are often only telling part of the story.
For example, plastic weighs significantly less than glass and is able to be packaged more tightly. To transport equal amounts of glass jars and flexible plastic packaging, for instance, it would require 26 truckloads to transport the glass containers, and only one truckload to transport the plastic packaging. The environmental footprint created by the extra trucking costs eliminates nearly all of the advantages of using glass packaging.
The plastics packaging industry is a growing segment of the American economy that continues to work toward more environmentally friendly options.