From:FoodBev

The market for collation shrink films accounts for 10% of all polyethylene (PE) films produced in Europe and is forecast to grow by around 1.5% per year over the next five years, according to a new report from AMI Consulting.

Demand for collation shrink films currently stands at 800,000 tonnes, but that could increase to 850,000 tonnes by 2020, AMI said. Much of the increase in usage of collation shrink film over the past few years has been masked by the downgauging resulting from advances in polymer technology and enhancements to extrusion equipment.

Downgauging – the reduction in thickness or bulk of packaging materials – has also led to increasing levels of damage in transit across all levels of packaging – primary, secondary and tertiary – with losses of “many millions of euros”.

Significant downgauging has occurred in plastic bottles, collation shrink film and pallet stretch wrap, any or all of which can have a serious impact on the overall load stability, AMI said. It added that companies need to understand that it is the optimisation of the overall packaging system that is critical to the safe transport of palletised goods, with film extrusion technology and advances in raw material properties continuing to facilitate cost reduction without compromising on film performance or safety.

The use of collation shrink films as a secondary packaging medium has gained in popularity throughout Europe, the report found. Growing consumption of shrink film has been driven by the ongoing switch from glass bottles to lighter plastic or metal alternatives, resulting in a move away from crates and cardboard boxes to flexible film multipacks. This step can lead to a weight reduction of up to 70%.

In addition, the switch has led to an improvement in carbon footprint, lower transport costs and, increasingly, marketing benefits. With the trend towards co-extruded films, the use of metallocene resins in the outside layer has provided a high-gloss finish that has led to the development of high-quality print on the shrink film, enhancing product appeal by providing an eye-catching and differentiated pack at point of sale, AMI said.

Beverage ‘the largest market’

The largest sector to use collation shrink film is the beverage market, which currently accounts for almost half of all polyethylene collation film demand and has been driven by growing popularity of functional and on-the-go bottled and canned drinks, the report continued.

Food is also a significant market, particularly canned items, and represents around one-quarter of collation shrink demand. However, only about 15% of collation shrink film for the food sector is printed, because much of it is for transit packaging only and is removed before the product reaches the shelf, whereas 60% of film for the beverage sector is printed, as it is intended that these products be sold in bulk.

AMI’s report analyses the latest trends in the use of collation shrink films, along with developments in raw material technology, innovation and changing film formulations.