19th and 20th Century Innovations

Paper bags were created for commercial use in 1844 and in 1852 Francis Wolle invented a machine that could mass-produce paper bags

In 1879, a Brooklyn printer developed the first carton by accident! @Kellogg’s became the first company to use cardboard boxes for marketing and selling their cereal in 1906. Perhaps the most important packaging product of the 1960s and 70s; cellophane was invented by Swiss chemist Jacques E. Brandenberger as a “cloth” that wouldn’t consume liquids. Cellophane also lead to the birth of plastic packaging later on.

Bubble wrap, everyone’s favourite wrap that pops with every squeeze, was made accidentally in an attempt to create a new kind of wallpaper, by sealing two shower curtains that would make air bubbles in 1957 and in 1960 @IBM began using bubble wrap to package all their computers and fragile products.

Polyethylene Terephthalate or PET bottles came about in 1973 for containing carbonated drinks but they soon became the preferred material for manufacturers who wanted cheaper alternatives. Polyethylene was invented almost forty years before PET bottles.

Packaging Presently

Today, the packaging industry is enabling and supporting innovators to create new ways for reducing the industry’s impact on environment. Sustainable innovations like #biodegradable and #edible packaging demonstrate a growing conscientiousness in society alongside the packaging industry’s willingness to adapt and improve, keeping in line with what is best for a better, collective future. Yet, more is needed by way of legislative and executive support from governments and international organisations for quicker and more meaningful change. Much like the great changes packaging has seen over the course of two and a half thousand years.