Introduction to Packaging

1 Section 16 Page 1 Introduction to Packaging Introduction In today's society, Packaging is pervasive and essential. It surrounds, enhances and protects the goods we buy, from processing and manufacturing through handling and storage to the final consumer. Without Packaging , materials handling would be a messy, inefficient and costly exercise, and modern consumer marketing would be virtually impossible. The historical development of Packaging has been well documented elsewhere and will only be touched upon here. Suffice it to say that the highly sophisticated Packaging industries which characterize modern society today are far removed from the simple Packaging activities of earlier times.

2 Packaging lies at the very heart of the modern industry, and successful Packaging technologists must bring to their professional duties a wide-ranging background drawn from a multitude of disciplines. Efficient Packaging is a necessity for almost every type of product whether it is mined, grown, hunted, extracted or manufactured. It is an essential link between the product makers and their customers. Unless the Packaging operation is performed correctly, the reputation of the product will suffer and the goodwill of the customer will be lost. All the skill, quality and reliability built into the product during development and production will be wasted, unless care is taken to see that it reaches the user in the correct condition.

3 Properly designed Packaging is the main way of ensuring safe delivery to the final user in good condition at an economical cost. Definitions Despite the importance and key role which Packaging plays, it is often regarded as a necessary evil or an unnecessary cost. Furthermore, in the view of many consumers Packaging is, at best, somewhat superfluous, and, at worst, a serious waste of resources Section 16 Page 2 and an environmental menace. Such a viewpoint arises because the functions which Packaging has to perform are either unknown or not considered in full. By the time most consumers come into contact with a package, its job in many cases is almost over, and it is perhaps understandable that the view that excessive Packaging has been used has gained some credence.

4 Packaging has been defined in a number of ways. A populist reference source defines Packaging as: an industrial and marketing technique for containing, protecting, identifying and facilitating the sale and distribution of agricultural, industrial and consumer products. The Packaging Institute International defines Packaging as: the enclosure of products, items or packages in a wrapped pouch, bag, box, cup, tray, can, tube, bottle or other container form to perform one or more of the following functions: containment; protection and/or preservation; communications; and utility or performance. If the device or container performs one or more of these functions it is considered a package.

5 The UK Institute of Packaging provides three definitions of Packaging : a. a coordinated system of preparing goods for transport, distribution, storage , retailing and end-use; b. a means of ensuring safe delivery to the ultimate consumer in sound condition at minimum cost; c. a techno-economic function aimed at minimizing costs of delivery while maximizing sales (and hence profits). It is important to distinguish between Packaging as defined above, and packing which can be defined as the enclosing of an individual item (or several items) in a container, usually for shipping or delivery. Section 16 Page 3 World Packaging Market Figure 1. World Packaging Market by country in 1998 The top 18 Packaging Companies in the world are set out in table 1, based on turnover for the year 1998.

6 Table 1: The top 18 Packaging companies throughout the world as in 1998 Company US$million 1. Crown Cork & Seal 8, 2. Smurfit - Stone Containers 7, 3. Tetra Pak 7, 4. Owens - Illinois 5, 5. International Paper 4, 6. Tenneco 4, 7. Pechiney International 4, 8. Saint Gobain 3, 9. Toyo Sieken Kaisha 3, 10. Jefferson Smurfit Group 3, 11. Alcoa 3, 12. Ball 3, 13. Amcor 3, 14. Rexam 3, 15. Alcan 2, 16. AssiDoman 2, 17. Sealed Air/Cryovac 2, 18. Sonoco Products 2, Western Europe28%Australasia1%Latin America7%Eastern Europe3%Middle East5%Japan16%North America27%Asia-Pacific13%Section 16 Page 4 The composition of the Australian market by material is set out in Figure 2 and the New Zealand Market is similar (see Table 2).

7 Figure 2. Australian Packaging market by material in 1998 Table 2: New Zealand Packaging Production for 1996 (Robertson & Webber, 1999) Material Production Percentage tonnes Aluminium 9770 Glass 96094 Paper 382711 Plastic 117000 Steel 31160 Total 636735 Metal20%Plastics29%Glass11%Other4%Paper & Board36%Section 16 Page 5 Packaging DEVELOPMENT Early Packaging (An excellent reference covering the History of Packaging Development is Hine, 1995) Examples of early Packaging include flex woven baskets, leaves, gourds, wooden barrel, pottery containers and glass. Glass Packaging has a very long history but early types of glass Packaging were very expensive and very rare form of Packaging .

8 Figure 3. A modern example of early types of Packaging using bamboo, straw and paper used to package mangos. Nineteenth Century Packaging Development The 19th Century from 1800 1900 was a period of rapid development of Packaging systems with the appearance of: metal cans (1818) paper bag (1850s) folding paperboard carton (1880s) Corrugated paperboard case (1890s) Tubes (eg toothpaste tubes) Milk Bottles ( 1860s) Section 16 Page 6 Fruit and vegetables continue for the most part to be unpackaged and if any was shipped they would be in wooden boxes. The use of wooden boxes for Packaging and shipping horticultural products continued until the end of the 20th century. Wooden boxes were phased out in NZ with the development of strong and cheap corrugated cases and then finally by the use of reusable plastic crates.

9 FUNCTIONS OF Packaging Although the definitions given above cover in essence the basic role and form of Packaging , it is necessary to discuss in more detail the functions of Packaging and the environments where the package must perform those functions. Containment This function of Packaging is so obvious as to be overlooked by many, but it is probably the basic function of Packaging . With the exception of large, discrete products, all other products must be contained before they can be moved from one place to another. The "package", whether it be a milk bottle or a bulk cement rail wagon, must contain the product to function successfully. Without containment, pollution could become widespread.

10 The containment function of Packaging makes a huge contribution to protecting the environment from the myriad of products, which are moved from one place to another on numerous occasions each day in any modern society. Faulty Packaging (or under Packaging ) could result in major pollution of the environment. A study of Packaging systems in China ( Packaging Today Australia 1979) found that: of the country s cement is lost in transit 50% of grain Section 16 Page 7 20% of all glass is damaged before it can be used 40% of microscopes are broken before reaching the buyer. While in North America, Northern Europe and Australasia only 2% - 3% of food is lost through spoilage, in developing countries food spoilage and damage is estimated to be between 30 to 50% of production.