U.S. Paper, Bioplastic Cup, Lid Market Projection, 2015-2019

 

In a new report released by Technavio, London, U.K., this past week, analysts forecast the total cups and lids market in the U.S. to grow at a CAGR of 4.88% until 2019. Top vendors listed include Georgia-Pacific and International Paper, two of the largest U.S. producers of paper products. 

The abstract suggests the paper packaging/paper cup industry can benefit positively compared with other sectors of cups mentioned: plastic and metal/foil/other. A key market trend identified by the abstract is increased demand for biodegradability—a challenge for conventional petrol-plastics and foil/metal materials, while paper products are more easily recyclable and can even be composted if necessary in proper conditions, but usually not for traditional purposes such as organic, re-nutritional farming, and gardening. 

This is due to complications with potentially toxic ink release if the paper it’s printed on completely degrades, as well as the fact that paper products have most of their nutrients stripped when finely processed. However, paper will still naturally degrade, on a geologic time scale, in an instant compared with petrol-plastics, metals, or even glass, especially when exposed to an oxygen-rich environment instead of buried at the very bottom of landfills (to avoid compete degradation ink release) when not recycled. 

Advanced paper cups, wraps, and other types of packaging are likely to compete with what the report identifies as the emerging bioplastics industry, which often also includes raw materials from the forest products industry. The report identifies overall demand growth in the cups and lids sector as being due to, in part, an increased popularity of smaller multipacks with North American consumers. 

Challenges identified include continually working toward inventing technologies and developing materials that can prevent contamination of dairy products in cups. Maintaining optimal labor could also be a task because of the scarcity of trained employees to handle incoming positions.