According to a MarketsandMarkets analysis, the sustainable packaging market is estimated to grow at a healthy CAGR of 5-6% in the coming 5 years, driven by demand from flexible packaging and the food & beverage industry.

Paper and paperboard packaging holds the biggest opportunity for packaging manufacturers. Adjacent markets hold a potential of over $97 billion in elastomers, the majority of which will be contributed by flexible plastic packaging, and standup pouches.

Ecofriendly packaging was one of the most talked-about trends in 2021. Packaging companies are leaning towards sustainable packaging solutions. Recycling plastics in food packaging is expected to create a new market.

Currently, businesses have low access to primary intelligence to clarify some unknowns and adjacencies in these opportunity areas:

• Landfill and anti-dumping laws have served as an impetus for developing new sustainable methods in waste management, minimizing the weight, and increasing the recycling of plastics.
• The food processing, food delivery, and snacks industry have contributed to increasing in the use of sustainable materials and initiation of sustainable technologies in the food & beverage industry.
• Adjacent markets such as stand-up pouches, corrugated packaging, and metalized flexible packaging provide immense growth opportunities, owing to high demand in the end-use industries.
• The use of recycled plastics is very high across the packaging industry.

Some of the growth problems encountered by robotics & digital solution providers are:

• Customer prioritization and assessing unmet needs
• Which end-use industry and new application areas to focus on
• Building a compelling Right-to-Win (RTW)

Key uncertainties/perspectives which the industry leaders seek answers to:

For packaging companies:

•  What new applications will be relevant and redundant in the next 5 years?
• Can strategic recycling of plastics become affordable for manufacturing/recycling companies?
• How can companies optimize the manufacturing processes to provide solutions for the newer applications?
• Which product type in the sustainable packaging market is expected to offer significant growth potential?
• How can players comply with the ever-changing demands from end-use industries? 
• What regulatory policies one must adhere to manufacture products for regulated applications?

For companies in adjacent markets:

• What are the regulations surrounding food and medical-grade packaging?
• How will the e-commerce industry shape the landscape for logistics packaging, competition between paper and paperboard, and reuse plastics packaging?
• Impact of regulations in different regions to increase recycling and use eco-friendly materials for food contact packaging?
• What are the opportunities that eco-friendly materials can provide?

The MarketsandMarkets research and analysis focuses on high growth and niche markets, – such as pharmaceutical packaging, anti-counterfeit packaging, green technolog, and sustainability markets, which will become around 80% of the revenues of the players in the sustainable packaging ecosystem over the next 5-6 years.