Demand for Paper & Plastic Packaging to Exceed 25 Billion Pounds in 2010

In 18 selected markets where plastic and paper compete as packaging materials, plastic is expected to increase its share of the market to 53 percent (in pounds) in 2010. This percentage understates plastics’ share since less plastic is required than paper in most applications due to its lighter weight. Plastic’s share of the market will expand at a slower pace than in the past decade, as a number of packaging applications are now fairly mature in terms of the share controlled by plastic. These and other trends are presented in “Paper Versus Plastic in Packaging,” a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry research firm.