In a market research report on the top ten trends of the packaging industry made by FACHPACK a few days ago, it is undoubted that "sustainability" is the core part of these ten trends. To expand, resource-saving packaging is at the top of the list, followed by the trend of using a single material to achieve better separability, which in turn will increase the use of recycled materials. Otherwise, the circular economy is unimaginable . In addition, the research report pointed out that digital watermarking technology can help packaging recycling by category, and can realize intelligent packaging, tracking and tracing functions, because the quality tools in the food industry can help minimize losses due to decay. But even trends such as e-commerce optimized packaging design and brand experience must be considered important, especially in the context of the megatrend of sustainable development. Research shows that consumers are increasingly inclined to evaluate brands based on their eco-friendliness and pay more for this. Finally, reusable packaging is an integral part of the circular economy. From this perspective, it is not surprising that PLA (polylactic acid) ranks at the bottom of this table. This plastic is indeed produced from renewable raw materials and is biodegradable, but it is also processed into disposable products.

              The Covid-19 pandemic has severely disrupted many industries, including printing industry. In fact, the new crown pandemic has pushed every company to innovate in their existing business and equipped the suitable tools and technologies to ensure the business continuity in the current crisis. A research report emphasis that by investing the advanced technologies, such as the cloud technology, AI and other similar technology,some companies have increased the income by 5 times during Covid-19 pandemic.     One of the biggest changes adopted by most of printing enterprises during this period is the digital reform. When the supply chain has been affected severely by lockdown, it became extremely hard to provide services to customers, because the packaging and printing enterprises mainly rely on the physical operation. That is what drives most of them to go to digital and start to use the innovative technologies to serve their customers.       In this context, the following developments and trends in packaging and printing industry will emerge in 2021 and after 2021. 1. Non-contact packaging solution. 2. Integrated collaboration 3. Virtual printing sales 4. Cloud printing 5. Mixed Culture

WestRock announced the launch of its EverGrow™series to expand its product packaging products. This series provides an innovative alternative to disposable plastic packaging for products ranging from snack tomatoes to apples. New design custom fruit and vegetable packaging boxes from risingfortunepackaging.com. WestRock has implemented a proprietary method for product packaging series made from sustainably sourced wood fiber. WestRock EverGrow packaging can be recycled on the roadside after being emptied and flattened, supporting the company's ambition to reduce waste and build a 100% reusable, recyclable and compostable product portfolio. "WestRock's new EverGrow series is a great example of how we can improve the sustainability of our products through innovation while helping our customers achieve their sustainability goals," said Patrick Kivits, President of WestRock Consumer Packaging. "We have used our material science, structural design and packaging automation expertise to develop a series of truly differentiated packaging solutions for our product customers. These solutions are functional, recyclable and eye-catching.

According to the monthly report of packaging paper and fancy packaging released by American Forest & Paper Association. The total shipments of packaging paper and fancy packaging in March increased by 3% compared to March 2020. Compared with the three months in the same period in 2020, this represents an increase of 3%. The operating rate was 91.0%, a decrease of 2.2% from March 2020, and a year-to-date increase of 0.6%. The inventory in Factories at the end of March decreased by 10,000 short tons compared with Feb 2021, and increased by 6,000 short tons compared with March 2020.