the packaging market of western european beverage maintained its position as the third largest market in the world through 2011, expanding by below 1 to attain volume levels of 170 billion units. on the whole, in a mature market of beverage packaging, western europe is experiencing slow growth. on the other hand, it maintains a considerable region with some good pack expansion opportunities, showing by the declining popularity of bottles made up from glass in the wake of competition from beverage cans and pet. motivated by the trend for good for health drinks, these latter packs are resulting versatile and viable options in soft drinks applications. there continues to be substantial shifts between the market in pack types, with glass losing out to metal and pet beverage containers in key product expansion areas. environmental and cost factors are main drivers in this. pet is affordable, recyclable and lightweight, as well as being very flexible in terms of shape as well as design capabilities. it succeeds in its capability to fulfil the necessities of brand owners, consumers and retailers, hence its continued recognition and popularity. consumers&rsquo habits of drinking are changing, which is influencing the expansion of various types of packaging. choices of people are switching away from harmful alcoholic drinks especially beer and sugar based soft drinks, with expansion coming from juices, waters, and sportsenergy drinks. the most popular beverage is bottled water, which is offering a boost to pet bottle quantity, while other pack kinds, such as liquid cartons and beverage cans, are also contributing a share of this growth. in 2011, a quarter of the region&39s beverage packaging volume derived from germany, with the france and uk merged making up just above a quarter. of these nations, the uk is showing the finest yearonyear productivity with volumes increased 1.7 in the year of 2012, with energy sports drinks performing good, indicating in part the olympic influence. some slight improvements have been also observed in forecast volumes show, with a forecast of 1.2 compound annual growth rate cagr, through to 2016, showing that the area will be an imperative volume player moving ahead. source of information httpwww.companiesandmarkets.comnewspaperandpackagingwesterneuropeanbeverage…
