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7 Important Challenges: Covid-19 Is Changing The Packaging Industry

7 Important Challenges: Covid-19 Is Changing The Packaging Industry

COVID-19 has affected the entire world in many different ways. Our lives now are very different to how they were a year ago, and with another lockdown in full forced and no end in sight, it may go on for another year until everybody is fully vaccinated. Every industry in the world has changed, some for better and some for worse. The way in which people buy everyday items has changed, and the way in which people act in everyday life has changed. The packaging industry is no exception, and there have been many huge changes to the industry. Here are 7 examples of how COVID-19 has changed the packaging industry.

  • As more and more people are now working from home, as it is considered safer than being in an office environment, those people are getting on with household jobs which they haven’t done before. Packaging used for storage for example, has seen a huge increase over the past year. Cardboard packing boxes, bubble wrap and strong tape used in the household has increased dramatically.
  • There is a lot of business uncertainty, and many larger businesses cannot predict what is going to happen over the next year. This uncertainty has meant that many larger companies are choosing to buy smaller batches of packaging, regularly, rather than buying huge bulk quantities as they usually would. This has made production much harder to predict for packaging companies, and has meant that more storage space is needed in warehousing around the country.
  • Workplaces in packaging companies have needed to adapt to the safety requirements of the pandemic. PPE equipment has been placed around factories as well as hand sanitizer as well, and the space needed to ensure that people are not too close to each other as been increased as well. Anybody who has been considered high risk has been told to work from home as well, so flexibility in the workplace has been vital.
  • There has been a massive increase in online shopping from home, as the high street has been shut down for nearly a whole year, especially in the run up to Christmas. This increase in demand online has meant that much more packaging has been needed for the delivery process, and moving boxes online in particular have been a massive increase in demand, and this has even created a shortage in supply. Packaging companies have needed to shift to supplying online retailers rather than traditional companies.
  • There has been a large increase in the number of people moving home in the UK, and this is because of the number of people now working from home. They have had more time to think about their homes, and many people have chosen to leave the city where they currently live in exchange for a life in the countryside, now that they are able to work from home. This has meant that packaging for people who are moving home is in high demand, including house moving boxes.
  • There has been a delay at the ports and a shortage of raw materials of cardboard. This is due to the increased demand of packaging, but it is also due to the UK’s exit of the European Union. This delay has affected the entire packaging industry in its entirety, and has a knock on effect to businesses too.
  • There has been a further push on environmentally friendly packaging during the pandemic, as people have had more time to think about the things that matter most, and the future. Recycled house moving boxes from cardboard and fully recyclable plastics are a must, including bubble wrap too.
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