Annual packaging barometer

Hungary’s packaging industry is an important one in Europe and it keeps developing. This year’s preliminary data are also positive, but the growth rate seems to have slowed down a bit. Miklós Nagy, general secretary of the Hungarian Association of Packaging and Materials Handling (CSAOSZ) told: in 2015 the industry’s output was HUF 548 billion in value and 954,000 tons in volume. The industry produces approximately 1.6 percent of the Hungarian GDP. Mr Nagy added that the packaging industry is the barometer of the country’s economic performance. Export activity is strong: the volume of products sold abroad – mainly in the markets of Western Europe – was about half of the domestic sales in 2015.

Paper and plastic are the most important packaging materials in Hungary. As for metal packaging solutions, less and less material is needed to protect the goods just as much as before. After many years of decline, in 2015 metal packaging use increased again in Hungary. Glass packaging will always be used in certain product categories. Researchers are now trying to find ways for making glass more consumer friendly, e.g. to be lighter and to break less easily. Wood packaging basically means pallets – the bigger the retail turnover, the more of these are used.

Mr Nagy told about the environmental protection product fee that the budget’s revenue from this grows every year, and 60-65 percent of the sum is the contribution of packaging industry companies. At the same time, less than 20 percent of the money is used for financing packaging waste collection. The food industry is the biggest packaging material user. Mr Nagy told that in Hungary 180kg of food waste is produced per person in a year. Every packaging solution that increases the shelf life of products reduces food waste and by this protects the environment.