From the 1950s onwards, plastics began to play a larger role in packaging. The change was particularly significant in flexible packaging.
Plastic became available as films, emulsion coatings and in extrusion coatings and laminations.
Plastic packages are extremely versatile. Materials may be extruded into films, blow-molded onto bottles, or layered onto each other for increased resistance to light, air, moisture, heat and packages insults such as puncturing and tearing.
Plastics’ desirable properties such toughness, light weight and the design freedom that they offer, have made them natural choice for both rigid and flexible packaging materials.
Flexibility is said to be one of the great advantages of plastic materials in many applications.
Flexible packages generally take up much less space than the rigid structures they replace, especially before they are filled with product.
They commonly require less material, as well. Therefore, switching from rigid to flexible packaging can provide significant economic savings in warehouse space and transportation as well as in package cost.
Plastic as flexible packages
