Paper: Packaging
20 MAI 2021

Paper: Packaging

The packaging industry, nowadays, presents the most varied types of packages, combining design and safety with the various products sold on the market. Content is sought, but it is inevitable that the public will be attracted to what surrounds it.

Historical and economic context - the packaging market

According to a recent study, Euromonitor estimated the sale of 4,000 billion packages worldwide, predicting a market growth of around 3.5% by 2020. Plastic is currently the most sold material, something that has raised and encouraged producers and suppliers to develop more sustainable raw materials. The big trend , according to Euromonitor, is the use of flexible packaging in the food industry, not only for its ease of opening and use, but also for its low weight.  However, it is also important to consider the requirement of policies regarding usage of ecological materials, avoiding waste, while ensuring the integrity of the products sold.

Environmental concerns have even driven the global growth of biodegradable materials, namely in the paper packaging industry and packaging of biodegradable plastic materials. A recent study Technavio points towards an 11% growth, between 2017 and 2021, in the packaging industry ‘s biodegradable material market .

Within the packaging market, universal food safety policies make the labeling industry one of the most demanding and competitive. It is the label that condenses the most relevant information when deciding which product to purchase by the final consumer. Colquímica Adhesives follows the most important requirements of this industry, to guarantee efficiency and quality.

Regarding paper bags, in recent years, these have been synonymous with quality, safety, convenience, high performance and reuse of materials, thus giving a certain refinement to the products they transport. The policies for reusing paper, along with the fight against the use of plastic bags, a practice observed mainly in the most industrialized countries, have contributed to the increasing reappearance of these materials.  According to independent studies from 2017, cited by Future Marketing Research, the paper bag industry will grow exponentially, especially in Asia.

Increasingly multifaceted, the easy-to-open capsule sector has adapted to different products on the market, food safety policies and technological innovation. This has provided, in addition to greater product safety and protection, a renewal of the packaging as an innovative element. The functionality of the glues used in the stopper industry is of great importance, since they are in direct contact with the product, so they must comply with the most demanding safety standards. Requirements that Colquímica’s adhesives meet, ensuring consumer safety.

In a sector in which, currently, about 50% of cork production is takes place in Portugal, the path of cork stoppers was not easy, quite the contrary, but the market won the tough competition with synthetic closures - namely capsules of aluminum and plastic capsules - and reaffirmed its comfortable position as market leader. Currently, according to APCOR, 40 million units are produced daily in Portugal, representing about 70% of the sector's exports, cementing its position as the largest producer of cork in the world.

The pallet sector has been continuous, albeit rigorous. The food industry has driven the growth of the sector, given that palletizing has improved the packaging system, making it increasingly efficient and systematized, either using robotics or conventionally.

 

Final Consumers' expectations regarding the packaging market

The packaging and all its components are the first point of contact between the brand and the consumer. As such, the consumer creates a certain expectation regarding the product, and all the elements (material used, logo, color psychology and format) that make up the packaging create a certain perception that will influence the decision to try or not try the product .

A study carried out in 2017 by the publication Packaging World, in the United Kingdom, found that 37% of respondents identified color as the most striking aspect when it comes to the packaging of a product, followed by 25% that considered design to be the most appealing factor at the time of purchase.

Several factors, such as the improvement and development of nutritional information, the growing public awareness of healthy consumption habits combined with an increasingly frantic lifestyle, have influenced the demand for a more personalized packaging service, with a different design and even new foods and beverages enter the market, according to the Global Trends Impacting the Market for Packaging Machinery 2018, a report by PMMI Business Intelligence.

In addition to the demands of the end consumer, the food and beverage market itself also maintains demanding and complex standards. According to European Union standards, adhesives used in the food industry must not affect food, make it harmful to health, or modify the nature, substance, or quality of the food product. The strategy of the producers of adhesives for the food market involves transparency regarding their production, demonstrating their commitment to food safety.

 

Kmelt technology for the packaging industry and other solutions from Colquímica Adhesives

Currently, the expectations of the final consumer are defined, in large, by the concern and environmental awareness that has been influencing the packaging market on a large scale. It is in this sense that Colquímica Adhesives glues respond to the highest demands of the various sub-sectors - forming and closing boxes, paper bags, labeling, ceramics, special applications (such as stoppers or even straws) and palletizing.

It is precisely in the sector of forming and closing boxes in the food and beverage industry that both standards and consumer expectations are more demanding. Colquímica Adhesives' experience of more than six decades allows the development of technological adhesives suited to meet these requirements, namely through the Kolwater brand. Water-based, this technology is used to close boxes and paper bags, with the following characteristics:

    • Good adhesive properties to cardboard and paper.
    • Great versatility for bonding various substrates.
    • Flexible and plastic transparent film.
    • Average drying speed.
    • Good cold resistance.

Kmelt Technology also has proven experience, with several attributes suitable for the different sub-markets of packaging - formation and closing of boxes, paper bags, labeling, ceramics, special applications, and palletizing, presenting the following characteristics:

  • Good adhesion.
  • Good thermal stability.
  • Faint odour.

Colquímica Adhesives also offers solutions regarding the growing concern of the end consumer, and the industry itself, about the choice of products that meet the sustainability and environmentally friendly policies. Kmelt Ultra glues are an example of this in the formation and closing of boxes and paper bag submarkets, showcasing:

  • Good adhesion to difficult substrates
  • Low temperature application, reducing energy consumption in the application.
  • Good thermal stability.
  • Faint odour.

Kmelt Evolution adhesives or Ksticks, which guarantee excellent adhesion to difficult substrates, are also suitable for recycled packaging.

Kmelt Evolution technology means:

  • Lower consumption.
  • Low density.
  • Resistance to temperatures from -40ºC to 70ºC, depending on the substrates.
  • Good thermal stability.
  • Good adhesion to difficult substrates.
  • Absence of fumes or odours.

The Ksticks technology, in the shape of sticks, is more suitable for the rapid bonding of papers and cardboard, identifying itself by its:

  • Good adhesion to different materials.
  • Easy to use.
  • Very faint odour.

As  part of a response to ecological requirements, Koldex adhesives also perfectly match this demand. Suitable for labeling dry, wet, hot and, above all, returnable bottles, these glues have biodegradable characteristics that adapt to conventional recycling processes:

  • Resistant to moisture and condensation water.
  • Good adhesion capacity on difficult labels.
  • Fast drying.
  • Adapted to bottle recycling systems.

Regarding the search for increasingly cohesive, stable, and visually appealing packaging, Colquímica Adhesives, using Kmelt Extend glues, guarantees the improvement of the final appearance of the packaging. It is an innovative product due to its:

  • Lower consumption.
  • Low density.
  • Resistance to temperatures from -40ºC to 70ºC, depending on the substrates.
  • Good thermal stability.
  • Good adhesion to difficult substrates.
  • Absence of fumes or odours.

In all the technologies developed, pathing towards increasing innovation is one of Colquímica Adhesives’ characteristics that guarantees its position as a trendsetter, namely in the production of technical adhesives for the packaging sector. Colquímica Adhesives strives to guarantee, in the packaging market, stable, safe, and unaltered products, which do not yield to weight or temperature when transported.

It is to this extent that the innovative Colquímica Adhesives technologies, appointed for the production of packaging products - formation and closing of boxes, paper bags, labeling, ceramics, special applications and palletizing - contribute to improving the use of the various products in each market for the final consumer.

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