The plastic packaging market - Italy

1.2 World market

The world market for plastic packaging continues to grow as people increasingly opt for this material since it is durable, manageable, and lightweight.

The global plastic market has been valued at $*** billion in ****, and it is estimated that it will continue to grow at a CAGR of * percent over the period ****-****, reaching a value of $***.** billion [***]

World production of virgin plastic World, ****-****, Mt Source: ****

In ****, world plastic production hit *** Mt, down slightly from ****. The world's top producer was China, ** percent, followed by North America, ** percent, Asia, ** percent, and Europe, ** percent.

World plastic production by country World, ****, percent Source: Europlastic NAFTA : North American Free Trade Agreement CIS : Commonwealth of Independent States

Demand for plastics in different European countries varies widely. Germany and Italy hold the top two positions, **% and **% of total demand respectively, followed by France, Poland and Spain. The six largest European countries account for **% of European demand for plastics. Germany requires about ** Mt of plastics each year, followed by Italy with about *Mt, France *Mt, Poland and Spain with about *.* Mt of plastics each.

Demand for plastics by country Europe, ****, % Source: ****

**.* percent of the plastic produced is used for packaging, followed by construction, **.* percent,automotive, *.* percent, and ...

1.3 Italian market

According to the Italian Institute of Packaging, Italy produced *,*** tons of plastic packaging in ****. In ****, the plastic packaging sector will see a production decline of around -*% from the previous year. The negative trend of the manufacturing industry has greatly influenced this. However, since plastics are widely used in the food and pharmaceutical sectors, the relative good performance of these areas has helped stem the losses.

Italian production of plastic packaging Italy, ****-****, Tons Source: ****

The turnover of companies active in the sector was *.** billion euros in **** [***], a steady increase since ****.

Plastic packaging sector turnover Italy, ****-****, billion euros Source: ****

The flexible packaging sector was the most influential in the negative trend recorded in ****, -*.*% compared to ****. Rigid packaging, on the other hand, in fact recorded a positive trend, ending **** with about +*.* percent over ****, thanks to its connection with the food and beverage sector, but also to its widespread use in the household cleaning and home care products sector. Overall, in percentage terms, the breakdown of plastic packaging production, by type is as follows:

Breakdown of plastic packaging production by type (***) Italy, ****, % Source: ****

Then, with regard to the average prices of the raw plastics used to produce packaging, there are generalized ...

1.4 Import and Export

According to the Italian Packaging Institute, as far as foreign trade is concerned, in ****, there is a growth in imports (***): **.*% of exports find their way to European countries, **.*% of empty plastic packaging comes from the same area. Estimates for the industry's turnover see a decline around * percent.

According to UN Comtrade, the trend of Italian imports and exports of products with HS code ****(***) is as shown in the following table, note that re-imports and re-exports data are not contained.

Trends in imports and exports of plastic packaging Italy, ****-****, Billions of dollars Source: ****

A measure that highlights how much Italy is an exporter of plastic packaging is given by the coverage rate. The coverage rate measures the percentage of exports covered by imports; it is calculated as the percentage ratio of exports to imports. Since the value of it is greater than *, it means that exports fully cover imports and thus a trade surplus is generated.

The countries from which Italy imported the most plastic packaging in **** were Germany, at $*** million; France, at *** million; and China, at $*** million.

Countries from which Italy imports plastic packaging in percentage value Italy, ****, % Source: ****

In terms of exports, in ****, Italy exported the most with France, ...

1.5 Impact of Covid

The global plastics industry has been the quickest and most dynamic in responding to the effects of the Covid-** pandemic. The packaging market has grown due to increased e-commerce by consumers.

Plastic packaging has grown due to :

E-commerce due to store closures and restrictions and lockdowns during the pandemic. has increased use of plastic packaging for transportation and shipping of items. Single-use packaging to avoid Covid contamination. has increased the use of single-use plastic-packaged items, such as tampons, to prevent the spread of the virus. Detergent packs and disinfectant products. With the arrival of Covid, the consumption of cleaning and hygiene products has increased, and with them their plastic packaging.

In particular, L'e-comerce increased by * percent, from ** percent to ** percent of purchases in ****[***].

Thus, plastic packaging, whether rigid or flexible, continues to dominate in the detergent sector: the only shifts in market share recorded were between different types of plastic. Between **** and ****, plastic packaging in the detergent field increased as follows:

Source: ****

Finally, for hygienic reasons related to the pandemic the pandemic, single-use products packaged in plastic have increased to a total of * million tons[***].

2.1 Question in Italy

Plastic packaging due to its versatility can be used for different types of food and non-food products. However,in Italy, the main area of use remains food: in ****, **.*% of plastic packaging was for food and beverage packaging (***). On the other hand, **.* percent includes packaging types for household appliances, clothing and accessories, glassware, etc.

Plastic packaging by product Italy, ****, %

2.2 Main related markets

An analysis of the sales volumes of the main sectors related to the use of plastic packaging allows a better interpretation of the changes in demand from plastic packaging manufacturers.

The steady and slow increase in the various sectors explains the same trend in the plastic packaging industry.

Food industry

Production sold food industry Italy, ****-****, Billions of euros Source: Istat ATECO **

Beverage industry

Production sold beverage industry Italy, ****-****, Billions of euros Source: Istat ATECO ** and **.*

Pharmaceutical industry

Production sold pharmaceutical industry in value Italy, ****-****, Billions of euros Source: Istat ATECO **

Cosmetics industry

Production sold cosmetics and personal care industry in value Italy, ****-****, Billions of euros Source: Istat ATECO **.**

Online sales and transportation

Interesting is the figure regarding the increase in parcel and envelope delivery services due to the rise of online commerce. The Communication Observatory, volumes of products shipped sees an average growth of ** percent. The Observatory's data covers a comparison of the first nine months of ****, ****, and ****. Next is data on the increase in home deliveries due to online purchases[***] .

Production in tons of plastic bags and sacks Italy, ****-****, Thousands of Tons Source:Istat ATECO ******** and ********

2.3 Search for sustainable plastic packaging

Plastic production causes environmental damage. In Europe, ** percent of virgin plastics are produced using oil and natural gas as raw materials, and fossil fuels are also used to generate the heat needed during the production process. Together with the emissions problem, plastic pollution is one of the most significant global problems. Parallel to decarbonization, the need to implement concrete measures against plastic pollution at the global level has therefore become increasingly pressing in recent years [***].

The problem is very complex and as such so is the solution to it. There are three main cornerstones on which the almproblem solution is based:

Reducing plastic consumption Increased recycling and reuse of plastics Use of bioplastics

Increasing recycling and reuse

Deposit systems on packaging.The deposit system maximizes the selective collection of packaging by incentivizing consumer involvement through the payment of a deposit that is added to the sale price of the product (***), which is returned in its entirety when the consumer returns the empty packaging.

There are ** countries in Europe that implement the deposit on both single-use packaging (***) and achieve interception and recycling rates that in some cases exceed ** percent.

Container collection rates in some European countries where DRS is mandatory Europe, ****, % Source: ...

3.1 Plastic production

The plastic packaging manufacturing industry is composed of a multitude of players, whose roles are well defined. Manufacturers are generally in charge of designing and manufacturing the packaging, according to specifications set by their customers.

Plastic production begins with the extraction of the natural resources, normally gas and oil, that make up the plastic. Once the raw material is purchased, it cannot be used immediately. The crude oil that is extracted is taken to a refinery where it is broken down into different petroleum products. From this refining process, monomers are obtained that are the basis for the production of plastics. The next step in getting to the point of creating plastics is to transform the monomers into plastic polymers. This process is done by an operation called polymerization.The next step is extrusion: feeding molten plastic through a cut pipe to form plastic pellets. These plastic pellets are then used in the plastics industry to mold and create various plastic materials.The plastic granules are then shipped to companies that, ramite processes of blow molding, molding, extrusion laminating, and thermoforming, mold the plastic into finished packaging. After these packages are used, the plastic is either recycled and reprocessed to form ...

3.2 Market structure

Packaging companies therefore work with plastic granule polymers. The ATECO code by which plastic packaging manufacturers are identified is **.**

The Italian market includes about **** companies involved in this sector, most of them, ** percent, are small companies, with less than ** employees.

Plastic packaging companies by class of employees Italy, ****,% Source:Istat Ateco **.**

the numeor of companies active in the sector is decreasing, -**.*% , between **** and ****, *** companies exited the sector

Number of companies active in the plastic packaging sector Italy, ****-****, units Source: ****

The sector employs about ** thousand people, this number has not changed much over the years,slightly declining between **** and ****, it has subsequently recovered number of employees, bringing the **** employment in the sector to the same value as in ****.

Number of employees in the plastic packaging sector Italy, ****-****, units Source: ****

Interview with an Industry Expert : Ambrogio Goglio

We report here an interview with Ambrogio Goglio, head of two divisions of the Goglio Plastics Department in Milan and at the Daverio site. He is also responsible for the Technical Purchasing Department for all Goglio Group production sites.

In our study we estimate a market growth of * percent in the coming years. How do you see this growth?

For the Italian market there may be growth ranging from * percent to * percent annually driven by the development of monoportions. Families are shrinking and automatically the business of monoportions that can be used in all possible systems from microwave ovens, regular ovens to cooking in the form of pots and pans is growing. Then as for the specific sector of the Goglio Group, which is the coffee business, this is becoming more and more a consumer outside the door and so even there we see a growth around * percent per year in Italy, but also considering a negative fact that is a demographic index that is significantly decreasing.

And so, in your opinion, the biggest trends that will mark the market in the coming years will therefore be single-serving, while can you say something more generally about plastic packaging, not just ...

4.1 Types of packaging offered

Plastic packaging can be divided by type and use.

Typology

Classification

4.2 Prices

Packaging prices depend on the processing, quantity and quality of the plastic used so they are very difficult to estimate. It is more useful therefore to look at the price of the raw material to have a baseline for estimating packaging prices. The prices of different types of plastics depend on the type of plastic, i.e., whether virgin or recylated, the quantities, i.e., whether bought retail or wholesale.

The most commonly used plastics for packaging are the following:

Material prices vary from the ai and are as follows :

Source: ****

5.1 Packaging for food consumption

Since plastic packaging is used for the presentation and storage of many consumer products, it is subject to relatively strict regulations to avoid any risk to the consumer.

According to EC Regulation No. ****/****, plastic packaging must not present a health hazard or alter the composition of food (***). [***]

All products that come into contact with food must comply with EU Regulation **/****. [***]

This regulation requires that materials do not:

release their constituents into food in quantities that endanger human health. result in an unacceptable change in the composition, taste and odor of food.

It also prevents:

special rules for active and intelligent materials possibility of taking additional measures for specific materials the procedure for carrying out safety measures for substances used in the manufacture of MOCA (***) regulates labeling regulates documentation for traceability

5.2 Regulatory developments unfavorable to plastics

Plastic Tax

The European plastic tax is a uniform rate on non-recycled plastic packaging waste produced in each Member State, effective as of January *, **** and amounting to €*.*/kg.** The cost to Italy, net of the flat-rate reduction, is expected to be around €*** million/year. These contributions are allocated to the European budget, which is in turn used to finance the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (***).

The Italian plastic tax was introduced in Budget Law **** and was supposed to come into effect in the summer of ****, but was then postponed to January ****, to July ****, to January ****, and again to January ****.the Italian plastic tax applies to the consumption of Manufatti Con Singolo Impiego (***), i.e., manufactured products made with the use, even partial, of fossil plastic material, having the function of containing, protecting, handling and delivering goods. Products, therefore, that are not designed to be reused multiple times during their useful life. Examples of MACSIs are plastic bottles and caps, food packaging, Tetrapak containers, detergent bottles, polystyrene and bubble wrap used to protect goods, and plastic films used to wrap pallets. Excluded from the application of the Italian plastic tax, however, are MACSIs that are compostableand the plastic contained in MACSIs that ...

5.1 Segmentation

• Aptar Italia
• GualaPack S.p.A.
• Goglio S.p.A
• Sealed Air Corporation
• Manucor
• Alpla Group