Rising egg consumption triggering demand for moulded pulp packaging

One of the reasons why pulp packaging is witnessing widespread momentum is the growing importance of sustainability of packaging. Pulp packaging can not only be made from recycled materials, it can also be recycled again after its full use life cycle. More so, the fibres in pulp packaging are biodegradable, making them an appropriate choice for the packaging industry.

However, people have been looking for innovative packaging solutions that stand out from the traditional packaging, which starts as a flat cardboard sheet.

Enter moulded pulp packaging. This novel packaging is designed with round corners and complex three-dimensional shapes and is highly being used all across the globe today. Moulded pulp packaging is made from a distinguished variety of fibrous materials like natural fibres, recycled paper, or cardboard. These materials give the packaging its colour, strength, and surface texture. Egg cartons stand as a potential example of moulded pulp packaging.

Moreover, what has been driving the moulded pulp packaging market globally is the expanding egg consumption and production in various economies of the world. In fact, according to estimates, the global consumption of eggs is expected to be nearly 10.3-kg/person by the end of 2030. In this regard, there stands a need to have a sturdy packaging tray which can hold multiple eggs, eventually paving way for moulded pulp packaging.

Moulded pulp egg trays are basically packaging tools that are extensively used to hold eggs and also absorb shock and facilitate easy transportation. Pulp concentration in these trays has been considered to be adjusted somewhere between 0.5% and 1%. Besides easing the burden of transportation, moulded pulp trays also stand as a novel environmentally-friendly product, which can directly recycle the recycled wastepaper without the intervention of industrial processing.

Competitive trends  

Companies partaking in the development of egg trays and packaging and also operating in the moulded pulp packaging realm have been relentlessly putting in efforts to maintaining their strong foothold in global market while offering novel product designs and solutions to the global population.

Citing a vital testament of the same, Cascades, a Canadian company that produces and commercialises packaging and tissue products made of recycled fibres, had in 2018 announced taking over two manufacturing plants, Clarion Packaging and Urban Forest Products in the US under a transaction deal of USD 37.4-million. This deal enabled the company to double its production capacity of ecological packaging produced through moulded pulp. The plants have been deployed to produce moulded pulp to primarily serve the egg and quick-service restaurant industries while having a capacity of equipping over 150 employees.

The move also augmented Cascades’ stance in the overall moulded pulp packaging market.

Covid-19 impact  

Covid-19 pandemic, which started from January 2020, has not only claimed umpteen lives across various geographies of the world, but it has also severely disrupted the global economy given the fact that various central governments have declared lockdowns in several parts of the globe. Adverse impact of this infectious disease spread has also been felt across the moulded pulp packaging market of late. This can be ascribed to the slowdown in delivery of poultry products like eggs and restriction on the delivery of non-essential items globally.

However, post stabilisation of the global economy, there are possibilities that the global moulded pulp packaging industry would witness considerable gains in the upcoming years.

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