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Packaging Trends I
1990-1999
A Look back in Time | Trends in Consumption | interpack | Packaging Trends
Packaging Trends
Respect for the environment
The packaging industry extends its range of products because its target groups are diversifying more and more. The packaging companies are called upon to develop solutions to produce cost-effectively even in small and very small batches. This also changes the requirements made on the packaging industry as a supplier. Its potential customers are increasingly more multinational groups, particularly in consumer goods and pharmaceuticals. A task that everybody involved in the value creation chain has to face is the political demand to reduce packaging waste, to increase the recycling cycle and to increase the proportion of repeated-use packaging. The legal regulations passed in the different industrial nations vary, but they have the same general thrust: Less is more.
Monomaterial and bio-plastics
Plastics from renewable raw materials are in fashion at the beginning of the 90s. New materials are being developed. The innovations in this field presented at the interpack 1990 and 1993 meet with a good broad response, not just among specialists. Bio-plastics do not manage to break through in the market, however. On the other hand, the topics of environmentally friendly products and processes are ubiquitous. In the designing of packaging, attention is paid, for example, to whether or not the materials can be easily separated for disposal. Some packaging companies go for single-material packaging. Block bottom bags come into fashion as refill packs. And manufacturers try to reduce the wall-thicknesses of plastic containers.
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Refills without spills (1993)
© Unilever
A new type of refill pack made of paper and polyethylene for the compact detergent “Omo” is launched as the result of collaboration between Lever AG (now Unilever, CH), ELAG Verpackungen and the filling company E. Gittersberger. The 3 kg sack is simply placed in the original empty carton without any need for the messy process of decanting. The refill pack is 80 % lighter than the original carton and also takes up less space, as well as offering consumers a cost benefit.
Peel off neatly (1999)
© Karl Knauer
An innovative new blister package from Karl Knauer (Germany) for the pharmaceutical, body care and cosmetics sectors. In the “Peel Blister”, a special connecting medium tightly and securely attaches the blister to the cardboard backing, but the package can still be easily opened without requiring great dexterity.
