Home Care Packaging Market Trends, Statistics, Growth, and Forecasts

Market Overview

Plastic packaging is still very important as many home care products are toxic or abrasive. As a result, safety concerns lead manufacturers to use HPDE, and, to a lesser extent, PET, in many categories, such as laundry care, toilet care and surface care. There is also increased use of plastic pouches, in laundry care in particular. Within plastic, PET grew at the expense of HDPE, because of its recyclability. Newly introduced products, such as scent boosters, tend to be packaged in PET bottles. There is a general concern around the world about plastic pollution. Unilever Nederland and Procter & Gamble are among manufacturers directly participating in the New Plastic Economy initiative to apply the principles of a circular economy to plastic packaging. Procter & Gamble is working towards using recycled PET bottles in home care packaging.

With companies making bold commitments to contribute towards a circular economy in packaging, rigid plastic is expected to grow over the forecast period. The switch from HDPE to PET is likely to continue, as PET is more easily recyclable. As new technologies emerge, plant-based plastics and bio-based plastics will become more common.

The trend towards smaller sizes in laundry care is expected to continue, as manufacturers introduce further concentrated products. The trend towards larger sizes in concentrated liquid detergents is also likely to continue as manufacturers seek to market their products as offering money savings. The growth of internet retailing might spur this trend, as free delivery becomes more advantageous as pack sizes get bigger.

Companies are focusing on several ways to differentiate and make their products stand out. This means packaging is being used to show the more premium positioning of a product. For example, in laundry care, brand owners might use a PET bottle with a more visually appealing shape for their premium line of liquid laundry detergent. In dishwashing, premium positioning is often achieved through plastic pouches, instead of packaging in folding carton.

In 2020, flexible plastic packaging continued to be popular in both modern and traditional retail outlets, albeit in different formats and sizes in the various distribution channels. Plastic screw closures continued to dominate closures of certain home care products, especially in surface care categories such as floor cleaners and laundry care categories like liquid fabric softeners and liquid detergents. Pouches continued to record strong growth in 2020, supported by the increasing demand for refillable products.