Plastics for Barrier Packaging

The U.S. packaging barrier resin market should reach 9.4 billion pounds in 2017 and 10.6 billion pounds in 2022, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.5% through 2017-2022.

The U.S. packaging barrier resin market reached 8.8 billion pounds in 2014. This market is expected to grow to about 9.8 billion pounds in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2%.

The U.S. barrier packaging market totaled 8.1 billion lbs in 2011 and should grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.5% over the next five years reaching 8.7 billion lbs in 2016.

• The U.S. packaging barrier resin market reached 8 billion pounds in 2007. It is expected to reach 10.7 billion pounds by the end of 2012, a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8%.
• The largest market for barrier packaging is food and beverage packaging, which accounts for more than 95% of applications in the U.S.
• Other important markets include chemical/industrial products packaging and healthcare products packaging.

• The barrier plastic packaging industry in the U.S. amounted to about 5.8 billion pounds in 2004 and should rise at an overall 8.1% average annual growth rate (AAGR) to about 8.6 billion pounds in 2009.
• Barrier resins make up nearly 89% of the market and will continue to do so through 2009.
• Permeable films will grow only slightly faster than barrier resins and will represent a 759 million pound market in 2009.
• Tie layer resins (adhesive resins used to bond dissimilar resins together) will rise at an AAGR of only 5.5% over the period to just over 200 million pounds.

• The barrier plastic packaging industry in the United States is a large business. Its size is, in large part, determined by how one defines "barrier" and therefore what resin products and packaging structures are included in the scope of the analysis. We define a barrier resin as one that has low permeation to the most important gases that can penetrate and damage a packaged product. These gases primarily are oxygen and water vapor. We also include the important thermoplastic polyester, PET, because of its extensive use both as a barrier bottle resin for carbonated and other beverages and as a secondary barrier and structural substrate for many other barrier films. PET also is receiving more attention and gaining increased importance for packaging of beer in new higher barrier PET structures.
• The total U.S. market amounted to almost four billion pounds in our base year of 1999, and will grow at an overall 9.4% AAGR for all barrier resins to more than six billion pounds over the next five years to the forecast year 2004. The value of this market, in constant 1995 dollars at bulk resin prices at the manufacturer level, increases from almost $2.8 billion to $4.3 billion.
• Ethylene-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) copolymers: EVOH is the highest oxygen barrier resin now produced. BCC estimates that about 64 million pounds was used in the U.S. in base year 1999, and BCC forecasts growth at an AAGR of 11% to 108 million pounds in 2004. Most EVOH is used in the U.S. for food packaging (53 million pounds in 1999), with smaller and growing barrier markets for automotive fuel tanks and healthcare packaging.