Europe Aerosol Cans Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2021 - 2026)

The European aerosol cans market is expected to register a CAGR of 3.2% during the forecast period (2021 - 2026). The COVID-19 pandemic is leaving a trail of devastation in its wake in numerous branches of the industry across Europe. Government-imposed curfews and restrictions on mobility, including cross-border movement and companies' complete or partial closures, are causing considerable disruption within the tightly woven international supply chains. In many European countries, packaging has already been identified as a relevant part of the system for supplying the population with food, healthcare, and pharmaceutical products and is exempted from state-imposed restrictions. Consequently, grocery stores, chemists, and pharmacies stay open for business to ensure that the public is supplied with the packaged food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical products it needs.

Key Highlights

• Aerosol offers a wide range of products, from mass-market goods, such as household and cosmetic products, to specific aerosol types dedicated for industrial or medical purposes. The aerosol cans are used for coatings, cleaning agents, air fresheners, personal care items, insecticides, and a host of other products. While the market faced challenges in the early 1990s due to increased concerns about CFC propellants, innovations in spray technologies and the use of eco-friendly propellants have enabled rapid adoption of aerosol cans in multiple industries.
• Europe accounts for a significant share in the market studied due to the increasing demand from the leading European economy's personal care and food segment.
• Moreover, the pharmaceutical sector has been observed to have shown a growing interest in aluminum aerosol cans owing to the can's high level of security, further complemented by its convenient handling. Such factors are expected to add to the demand in the region. The government's push for sustainability and industrial acceptance of the same has been a huge positive impact on aluminum aerosol cans demand in the region.
• The per capita consumption of aerosols in Germany, France, and Russia, is expected to provide more demand during the forecast period. Besides the personal care sector, the pharmaceutical segment is witnessing growth as the aerosol system is tailor-made for a hygienic, safe and precise application of products. Moreover, with many industrial and automotive segments looking for innovative packaging solutions, the consumption of aerosol products from these sectors has increased rapidly, with a wide range of products being packaging in aerosol cans.
• Additionally, increasing investments in infrastructure development and positive economic trends are expected further to support the industrial demand over the forecast period. Moreover, owing to the convenience and strength offered by aerosol packaging, aerosol cans have become the standard packaging used in many industries. Besides, constant innovations by the companies in the market and technological developments in packaging are expected to drive market growth.
• Further, In September 2020, over 85 companies and organizations from the complete packaging value chain, including Beiersdorf, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, L'Oréal, ALPLA, and Henkel, have joined forces to assess whether digital technology can enable better sorting. They also focus on improved recycling rates for packaging in the European Union to drive a circular economy.
• Recently, Ball Corporation unveiled its latest can technology, 360-degree custom shaping, at the ADF & PCD exhibition in Paris. The new technology brought another dimension can contouring, using a process that allows custom shaping, symmetrically or asymmetrically, up to the entire circumference of the can, benefiting both brand owners and end consumers. Furthermore, with regulations specified in laws, directives, or rules, the guidelines of the requirements are also placed in industry, e.g., FEA (European Aerosol Federation) standards.

Key Market Trends

Aluminum Accounts For the Largest Market Share

• Aluminum is one of the most popular metals for aerosol can packaging solutions. Its metal canvas for ad printing, fast cooling, 100% recyclability, and inertness is helping for the reduction in freight weight, resulting in low transportation costs and reduced carbon emission. Its increased preference for deodorants and rise in customers' disposable income drive the demand for aluminum aerosol cans in Europe.
• Also, there was an unprecedented spike in at-home consumption of paints and hair spray in Europe. Few Europeans are using hairsprays at saloons because of gathering restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The increase in take-home sprays demand also necessitated higher UK imports of can sheets. The country relies on a mixture of domestic and imported aluminum hair sprays can sheet formed into cans by companies such as Ball and Crown.
• Overall, many factors, such as costs, environmental footprint, convenience, and flexibility offered by different packaging solutions, are driving consumers away from metal cans. For instance, Aluminum uses bauxite, and bauxite mining is very energy-intensive. The process requires a lot of energy and the conversion to Aluminum and molding to make the cans.
• Moreover, Aluminum cans offer the advantages of recyclability and ease of printing. Additionally, they are lightweight and act as excellent barriers to gases. Such factors allow a higher penetration of aluminum variants in the personal care industry than other metal cans and other materials such as plastic or glass.
• Further, The aluminum base for deodorant cans consists primarily of Aluminum, but it contains small amounts of other metals, including 0.4% iron, 0.2% silicon, 1% magnesium, 1% manganese, and 0.15% copper. A significant portion of the Aluminum used in the deodorant can industry is derived from recycled material. Approximately 25% of the total European aluminum supply comes from recycled scrap, and the personal care can industry is the user of recycled material. Some of the manufacturers stated that the aluminum can industry reclaims (recycles) more than 65% of used cans.

United Kingdom Accounts for the Largest Market Share

• Many countries in Europe, including the United Kingdom, have strict recycling laws encouraging companies to adopt aluminum over steel. Aluminum aerosol cans offer high flexibility and bright packaging, crucial aspects of the personal care industry. Moreover, the eased recyclable material availability adds to its usability, thus, driving the demand.
• In September 2020, the UK city of Leicester had partnered with the Aluminum Packaging Recycling Organisation (Alupro) and MetalMatters to promote metal packaging recycling. The Make Metals Matter campaign, launched by Leicester City Council, is likely to target over 140,000 homes in the city to remind people to recycle all of their household metal packaging waste.
• Further, it is estimated that over 168 million cans, foil trays, and aerosol containers are used in Leicester every year, and the metal they are made of is endlessly recyclable. According to Leicester City Council, if all the metal packaging used in the city’s homes was collected for recycling, it may help save 4,500 metric tons in carbon emissions, equivalent to taking 950 cars off local roads for a year.
• According to British Aerosol Manufacturers’ Association (BAMA), many users impacted due to the national lockdowns and the closure of non-essential retail, the aerosol industry was quick to adjust to the changing circumstances and respond to new market needs, with overall production still above 1.5 billion units in 2020, just 1.3% down on 2019.
• Further, in September 2020, UK-based brand management, digital print, and interactive media provider Springfield Solutions have launched a new digital embellishment service for aerosols. Until now, adding premium effects to aerosols, such as spot varnishes, gold, silver, and multi-colored foils, tactile finishes, and emboss effects, has been a costly, inflexible, and lengthy process. However, this is all set to change because of Springfield’s unique digital label embellishment offerings.

Competitive Landscape

The European aerosol cans market is highly consolidated with a few significant players as the market is price sensitive; hence sustaining in the market is demanding. Further, vendors in the market are driven by sustainability and product enhancements to capture the market share and profitability. Some of the recent developments in the market are:

• March 2021 - LINDAL has launched an online 3D Aerosol Configurator in Germany to transform traditional packaging design processes. The new 3D Aerosol Configurator is hosted exclusively on the company’s website. Customers can gain access to a suite of sophisticated editing and design tools to instantly and easily create 3D aerosol packaging.
• September 2020 - Nussbaum Matzingen AG, a Swedish manufacturer of aluminum monobloc cans, has launched an aerosol can made from 100% postconsumer recycled (PCR) aluminum. The product is the first of its kind of aerosol can containing no primary aluminum at all. The goal for Nussbaum is to produce an aerosol can made from recycled cans, implementing a circular economy material flow.

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