In the early 1960s there was a boom in the global economy and trade was reaching its global peak, with supermarkets taking over the local grocers and globalization of the FMCG market and many other fast-moving markets came a need for pallet stabilization and ease of movement of goods while ensuring its safety, before the stretch film Shipping products meant either loading hundreds of single boxes onto a truck one at a time, or using metal straps or shrink bags to unitize loads. All three options took a lot of time and energy. Loading boxes one at a time was hard work and strapping or shrink bags were expensive.
Many companies claim to have invented stretch film with different variations of the plastic wrap.
Global manufacturers also realized there were other benefits of using stretch film wrap to secure a pallet, such as wrapping products, protecting them from dust, moisture and sunlight, also to act as a visual disguise for the products underneath, stopping tampering and theft.
In 1972, people realized that stretch film secures loads, and that’s when more and more companies started using different types of stretch wrap. The first ones were made from Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) Even though PVC stretched more than LDPE, PVC was more likely to tear than LDPE. This was the main reason why companies decided to use LDPE rather than PVC.
Current Material Type are Polyethylene, Polypropylene, and Poly Vinyl Chloride With use types Hand Stretch Film, Machine Stretch Film and Specialty Stretch Film. Manufacturing Types are Cast Stretch Film and Blown Stretch Film. Application types are Meat, Poultry and Seafood, Dairy, Fresh Produce, Other Foods, Beverages, Electronics, Paper and Textile Products, Consumer Products and many other manufacturing goods.
The plastic wrap market is expected to grow at a constant pace due to increased R&D activities that result in new products that are more efficient than older ones. The various advantages, such as cost effectiveness, energy efficiency, user-friendliness, and a faster and better option than shrink film products, are actively driving the market growth rate.
However, rising raw material prices is acting as major constraint to the growth of the stretch wrap, whereas biodegradability and recyclability are acting as major challenges to the growth of the plastic film market.