Printed Packaging – 5 Advantages of Flexible Plastic Packaging

 

As more and more consumers place demands on food producers to use sustainable packaging, lightweight plastic packaging can be a much more beneficial method than the more traditional use of rigid packaging.

Plastic Packaging

5 Advantages of Plastic Packaging

  1. Flexible Packaging is re-useable. Technologically advanced films mean that plastic packaging can be reused multiple times to store and protect other food items when finished. Additional features such as re-sealable zip locks and handles enhance their value and convenience.
  2. Flexible packaging is lightweight and more easily transported when compared to their rigid counterparts. Safely transporting packaged food items can be a challenging task which often sees a huge amount of wastage due to breakage and contamination. Stand Up Pouch packaging helps to eliminate this as they are completely sealed and when packed with other stand up pouches breakage and contamination rarely occurs.
  3. Flexible food packaging offers an eye catching alternative in a highly competitive marketplace. Stand Up Pouches and Form Fill & Seal products can be easily customised, communicating brand identity and quality. Using an 8 Colour HD Flexographic Printing Press ensures perfect register accuracy [<50 microns] between colours meaning they don’t overlap, resulting in brilliant image details and the sharpest text possible.
  4. Flexible Packaging is environmentally friendly. Using the Waste-to-Energy process for recycling means we can turn waste in to clean energy, generating electricity for up to 80,000 homes and potential heating for a further 50,000 homes. (1)
  5. Reduce – Flexible packaging reduces food waste, extending shelf life by days. For example, due to the properties of the plastic film shelf life for minced beef is extended from 3 to 20 days and broccoli florets is increased from 6 to 20 days. It is also far more lightweight reducing transportation and storage costs. One truckload of flat pouches often equals between 15-25 truckloads of empty rigid containers. (2)

Source:

  1. Covanta www.covantadublin.ie
  2. FPA Value of Flexible Packaging in Extending Shelf Life and Reducing Food Waste Report