Packaging glues and adhesives - General

Nowadays, all products, whether industrial or food/consumer goods, are mass-produced, packaged and sometimes even over-packaged at the point of production, transported to the point of sale, then "unbundled" for sale to the end consumer, sometimes repackaged and finally consumed with the packaging opened and destroyed. The result of this cycle is a proliferation of different types of packaging, almost always manufactured to a greater or lesser degree, then filled and closed, with gluing involved in both operations.

For a variety of reasons (ease of distribution, shelf presence, hygiene, ease of storage, pre-measuring, etc.), the market for glues and adhesives for packaging and paperboard has grown enormously over the past 30 years (around 3% a year in volume terms).

In highly industrialized countries (USA, Western Europe), trends towards reducing pollution and household waste will lead to a slight reduction in packaging consumption over the next few years, with volumes rising by just 1% a year. However, packaging production will continue to grow rapidly in developing and underdeveloped countries (e.g. +10% per year in China).

There are many different types of glued packaging. All the uses of glues and adhesives in paper and board converting on the French market are listed in the [Doc. AG 6 752] documentation.

We'll look at some of these uses in the article "Packaging glues and adhesives - Applications". .

The different types of packaging are discussed in the articles in the Packaging and wrapping section of this treatise.