Hungary’s packaging industry produces international quality

Statistical data from the Hungarian Association of Packaging and Materials Handling (CSAOSZ) reveal that the packaging industry’s turnover was HUF 482 billion in 2014, HUF 15 billion more than in 2013. Miklós Nagy, general secretary of CSAOSZ told that packaging enterprises sell 50 percent of their products abroad, mainly in neighbouring countries and in Western Europe. He added that this also shows that Hungary’s packaging industry can be competitive at European level. Due to the introduction of the environmental protection product fee, plastic shopping bag use reduced drastically (from 10,000 tons a few years ago to 1,000 tons): the raw material for producing these costs about HUF 500/kg, while the environmental protection product fee is HUF 1,900/kg. Surveys have revealed that for consumers it is important to buy green products. However, the selective collection of packaging waste is still developing slowly. The role of packaging in reducing food waste is becoming more and more important. Mr Nagy told that about 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted in a year at world level, which is approximately 200kg/person/year. In addition to buying more food than needed, this waste is also the result of infrastructural problems and packaging deficiencies. As a conclusion, the general secretary told that companies can only stay in the market if they keep developing the technology they use. Since there is a continuous price war in the industry, efficiency-increasing is always a necessary prerequisite of remaining competitive.