Germany’s packaging manufacturers recorded significant growth in production and turnover in 2021. According to the joint committee of German packaging manufacturers Gemeinschaftsausschuss Deutscher Verpackungshersteller (GADV, Düsseldorf; www.gadv-online.de), around 19.6 mn t of packaging was produced in 2021 – a 4.8% rise in production volume compared to 2020. With around EUR 35.8 bn, the production value also increased significantly, by 10.9%.

As in previous years, plastics packaging generated the largest share of production value at around 44%, though by volume packaging made of paper, cardboard, and paperboard was the largest material fraction at roughly 49%.

In terms of production, the packaging material fractions show an unchanged picture compared to previous years: steel packaging recorded the highest growth (up 8.1%), followed by paper, cardboard, and carton packaging (up 7.3%), glass packaging (up 2.4%), plastics packaging (up 1.5%), and aluminium packaging (up 1%).

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The industry is currently facing major challenges. “For all packaging sectors, the supply of affordable energy is an important prerequisite for being able to continue to produce competitively in Germany as a business location,” said Johann Overath, general manager of the German glass industry association Bundesverband Glasindustrie (BV Glas, Düsseldorf; www.bvglas.de) and GADV spokesperson. “In the case of sectors that produce energy-intensively, this even becomes an existential question. In addition to this, there are difficulties with logistics and disruptions in the supply chains due to the war in Ukraine.”

GADV is the working group of the industry associations of the manufacturers of paper, cardboard, and paperboard, plastic, glass, steel, and aluminium packaging. With around 900 member companies, the supporting associations of GADV represent more than 80% of the production value of Germany’s packaging industry.

In addition to BV Glas, the supporting associations include the aluminium industry association Gesamtverband der Aluminiumindustrie (GDA, Düsseldorf; www.aluinfo.de), the association for packaging and films Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen (IK, Bad Homburg; www.kunststoffverpackungen.de), the metal packaging association Verband Metallverpackungen (VMV, Düsseldorf; www.metallverpackungen.de), and the paper processing industry association Wirtschaftsverband Papierverarbeitung (WPV, Darmstadt; www.papierverarbeitung.de). The GADV offices are run by BV Glas.