Valued at $120.60 billion in 2020, the transparent plastics market is projected to reach $193.67 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 6.1% over the next few years. The growth comes as no surprise as transparent plastic plays a critical role in the consumer world, providing the opportunity to visually experience and evaluate a product before even purchasing it.
Defining transparent packaging
Transparent packaging leaves nothing to the imagination; when the transparency is high, you should be able to see right through it.
Transparent plastics undergo moulding and extrusion processes, with the goal of achieving a high transparency value. This value is measured by two key factors:
- Light transmission (transmittance); the amount of light that can pass through
- Haze: the amount of light that reflects back
Both light transmission and haze are factored in the design phase material selection. With light transmission, the higher the number, the better the transparency. With haze, it’s the opposite; the lower the number the more transparent the packaging is.
Designing transparent packaging
Across all transparent packaging, material selection is a balancing act. Compromise takes place at every step of the way to ensure neither performance nor transparency are sacrificed, and that it meets the regulations by the EU and FDA when required. The key design challenges that come with transparent packaging involve colour, formation, pressure streaks, resistance and weight.
Colour
Often, incorporating colour into transparent packaging is a unique way to visually differentiate products on the market. That said, when adding masterbatches of colour the transparency and recyclability will be affected.
Formation
Determining the thickness of the transparent packaging plays a role in the material selection. The thicker the formation, the more difficult it is to reach higher light transmission numbers.
Pressure streaks
When creating transparent packaging with an extrusion machine, there can be visual defects, such as streaking or black spots that are easily seen on the final sheet.
Additives can support this. In the extrusion phase, adding masterbatches or a surface treatment can help protect the transparency and keep the resistance at the level needed.
Weight
In some cases, light weight transparent packaging is the goal which is relatively easy to accomplish. In other situations, where glass is being replicated to create an expensive look, the weight can make a product appear more expensive and make achieving higher transparency more difficult as well.
Sustainability trends in transparent packaging
With consumer demand rising for sustainable packaging solutions, key challenges come into play when designing and planning end-of-life for transparent packaging.
Read more about Sustainability trends in transparent packaging below:
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