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Rigid Plastic Packaging in Western Europe

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    Report

  • 60 Pages
  • April 2024
  • Region: Europe
  • Euromonitor International
  • ID: 4826022

Rigid plastic is one of the most important packaging types across Western Europe, heavily used in many industries. It continues to be valued for the protection it offers products with its strength and rigidity as well as its resistance to chemicals. Further growth seems assured, particularly as legislation, industry players and packaging companies continue to drive the development and use of recycled and recyclable rigid plastic packaging types.

The Rigid Plastic Packaging in Western Europe global briefing offers an insight into to the size and shape of the packaging market, highlights the effect of emerging geographies, categories and consumer trends on the packaging landscape. It identifies the leading pack types, offers strategic analysis of key factors influencing the packaging market - be they packaging innovations, consumption growth, category switching, economic/lifestyle influences, legislation or environmental issues. Forecasts illustrate how the market is set to change and criteria for success.

Key Findings

Slight dip in demand in 2022, but sales still well above pre-pandemic levels

Although the unit volumes of rigid plastic used in Western Europe showed a small decline in 2022, retail sales over the 2017-2022 period as a whole recorded positive growth, helped by a spike in demand in 2020 when lockdowns and foodservice closures pushed more consumption into consumers’ homes.

PET bottles and thin wall plastic containers dominate rigid plastic

PET bottles and thin wall containers continue to be the leading pack types in rigid plastic packaging. Both pack types were recording growth over 2017-2022 and, by the end of this period, were accounting for almost identical near 40% shares of overall rigid plastic packaging unit volumes, with rigid plastic, in turn, making up almost a third of overall packaging sales.

Trend towards smaller pack sizes for on-the-go and impulse purchases resumes post-pandemic

The post-pandemic period has generally been seeing a return to smaller pack sizes as consumers resume their busy lifestyles, boosting demand for on-the-go packaging solutions. During the pandemic, with consumers spending more time at home, larger pack sizes benefited with more cooking and snacking in the domestic environment as well as shoppers trying to avoid too many visits to physical grocery stores,

Continued “greening” of rigid plastic packaging a must

Consumer demand and the regulatory environment are expected to continue driving the trend towards more sustainable rigid plastic packaging. The usage of rPET continues to grow, even if shortfalls in the available capacity of recycled resins has been slowing this growth to some extent, while collection and recycling systems are being put in place in increasing numbers of countries, with Germany something of a blueprint for others to follow in this regard.

Data coverage: market sizes (historic and forecasts), company shares, brand shares and distribution data.

Why buy this report?

  • Get a detailed picture of the Packaging market
  • Pinpoint growth sectors and identify factors driving change
  • Understand the competitive environment, the market’s major players and leading brands
  • Use five-year forecasts to assess how the market is predicted to develop.

Table of Contents

Introduction
  • Scope
  • Key findings
Regional overview
  • Slight decline in 2022 but positive growth in 2017-2022 as a whole for Western Europe
  • PET bottles add almost seven billion units in new sales over 2017-2022
  • Positive growth throughout 2017-2027 apart from inflation-impacted 2022
  • HDPE bottles losing share to transparent and lighter PET bottles
  • Thin wall plastic containers losing share in France
  • Turkey adds the most new sales over 2017-2022
  • PET bottles makes the most gains in rigid plastic over the review period
Top applications
  • Bottled water and carbonates the main drivers of PET bottles growth
  • Thin wall plastic containers see increasing usage in plant-based yoghurt
  • HDPE bottles losing share in main category dairy
  • Main category sweet biscuits continues adding sales over 2017-2022
  • Plastic screw closures will need to be tethered to the main container from mid-2024
  • Plastic screw closures the dominant closure type in rigid plastic packaging
  • Food dominates the smallest sizes, and beverages the bigger sizes
  • The 301-500ml size band is popular in beverages for its on-the-go portability
  • Extension of Deposit Return Schemes expected across Western Europe
Forecast projections
  • Turkey expected to record the strongest growth over 2022-2027
  • Schwarzkopf using “Social Plastic” in its hair care packaging
  • Germany will remain the biggest market
  • Coca-Cola Germany switches to fully recyclable rPET for its soft drinks packaging
  • Declines expected in rigid plastic food packaging in France and Germany
  • Turkey to see the fastest growth over 2022-2027
  • Turkey will see the fastest growth, but the UK will remain the biggest market
  • Italy to see declining packaging unit volumes of rigid plastic in the home care industry
Country snapshots
  • Austria: Market Context
  • Belgium: Market Context
  • Denmark: Market Context
  • Finland: Market Context
  • France: Market Context
  • France: Competitive and Retail Landscape
  • Germany: Market Context
  • Germany: Competitive and Retail Landscape
  • Greece: Market Context
  • Ireland: Market Context
  • Italy: Market Context
  • Italy: Competitive and Retail Landscape
  • Netherlands: Market Context
  • Netherlands: Competitive and Retail Landscape
  • Norway: Market Context
  • Portugal: Market Context
  • Spain: Market Context
  • Spain: Competitive and Retail Landscape
  • Sweden: Market Context
  • Sweden: Competitive and Retail Landscape
  • Switzerland: Market Context
  • Switzerland: Competitive and Retail Landscape
  • Turkey: Market Context
  • Turkey: Competitive and Retail Landscape
  • UK: Market Context
  • UK: Competitive and Retail Landscape

Companies Mentioned (Partial List)

A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:

  • Schwarzkopf 
  • Coca-Cola