- November 11, 2025
- admin
India’s packaging industry is expected to grow to 101 billion dollars by 2025 and is predicted to be 170 billion by 2030. This growth is a result of increased online sales and stricter rules about sustainability.
Pick resources that are cheap and can be delivered quickly while choosing different types of packaging materials in India. Our e-commerce sector is quickly growing and is expected to increase from $125 billion in 2024 to a massive $345 billion by 2030.
This makes safe, lightweight, and flexible packaging highly demanded. Simultaneously, new EPR regulations as part of Plastic Waste Management inform the packaging design, labeling, and recycling, and bring brands to a balance between cost, performance, and compliance.
This blog discusses the primary packaging materials, their major benefits, and how Prakash Label can assist you in designing ready-to-use compliant packs with the correct labels, adhesives, printing techniques, along with the RFID/ Auto-ID technology to track the package better.
Types of Packaging Levels
Due to the specific needs of each product and the population that will consume it, there are different packaging options. All levels have their significant tasks and play a central role in the entire packaging plan. Each level collaborates to ensure product safety and to deliver it effectively to its intended beneficiaries.
Let’s learn each level separately:
1. Primary Packaging:
This is the primary packaging and the initial thing people handle. It secures the product, and the customers find it easy to use. It also provides all the information that the customer requires. It is the product’s face, featuring the brand and key facts. The primary packaging of a soup can is an example, as it contains the soup itself and contains the product information. For example, there are snack plastic pouches and perfume bottles.
2. Secondary Packaging:
It provides additional coverage to the primary packaging. It packs multiple major packages together in a manner that is easy to handle, store, and transport. It simplifies the process for both stores and customers as they can handle a large number of products simultaneously.
They are attractive and display the brand without putting the products at risk during shipping. E.g. a cardboard box with corrugations containing several bottles of water.
3. Tertiary Packaging:
It is used to transport and store numerous items simultaneously. It is an outer layer that customers rarely see. It maintains the goods as they are shipped and stored. It also helps efficiently utilize warehouse space and prevents damage to merchandise. An example is pallets, which are boxes piled up or large containers that transport numerous secondary packages.
What are the different types of packaging materials
Indian brands mostly analyse the paper & paperboard, folded cardboard, plastics (rigid & flexible), glass, metals (aluminum or tinplate), flexible films or laminates, bio-based recycling compostable options, and safety foams.
Paper and Paperboard (Sleeves, Rigid Boxes, Cartons)
Paperboard and paper packaging involve kraft and SBS, duplex and specialty boards, which are used in carton and sleeve packaging. They are cost-effective, easy to print, and recyclable, which means it is suitable for food, personal care, and pharma packs. Moreover, it is moisture-absorbent and less intense than plastic or metal. Durability can be increased by utilizing barriers or film markings.
Corrugated Cardboard (Shipping and Retail Ready)
The cardboard is manufactured in corrugations (E/B/C types) and is utilized as shipping boxes and retail-ready packages. It is affordable, powerful, and comfortable, hence popular in E-commerce. Even though it is bulky to store, its performance depends on the type of board and its thickness.
Plastics (Rigid: PP, PE, PET, and Flexible: Blends)
Bottles, pouches, tubs, trays, and films are covered with plastic packaging. It is resistant, waterproof, and stretchable. PET provides clarity, PE flexibility, and PP toughness. The primary issue is recyclability and compliance with EPR regulations.
Glass
Food, drinks, and cosmetics are packed in glass because it is clean and of high quality. It preserves the products against air and moisture, but it is heavy, brittle, and expensive to transport. It frequently requires additional support in shipping.
Metals (Aluminum, Tinplate/Steel)
Metal packaging, such as cans and aerosols, is rigid and provides a sound barrier to ensure long shelf life. It is also typical of drinks, sprays, and foods that undergo heat processing. Nonetheless, it is easy to dent and expensive. Stickable labels should adhere to curved metal surfaces.
Flexible Films & Laminates
They are single or multi-layered BOPP, PET, and PE wraps and pouches. They are easy to carry, print, and perform quickly on packaging lines. The laminates are more difficult to recycle in multi-layer form, whereas mono-material laminates are gaining popularity, whereas PP labels are shaped like polypropylene packs for easy recycling.
Bio-based/Compostable/ Recycled Content.
Such type is recycled paper, bioplastics such as PLA, and natural materials such as bagasse or seaweed. They promote green objectives and EPR aims, and are applied to trays, mailers, and liners. Composting or recycling in the real world necessitates local facilities. New policies in India are compelling brands to use recyclable materials and recycled ones.
Protective Packaging (Foams, Air Pillows, Bubble)
These include foams, bubble wraps, and air pillows, which cover delicate products during shipping. It is excellent with electronics, glass products, and cosmetic sets. It is, however, bulky, and industries are gradually shifting to either paper-based or reusable alternatives.
With India’s packaging market expanding at a double-digit clip and compliance tightening, the material you choose determines unit economics, damage rate, recyclability, and your label/print system.
Importance of Types of Packaging
When people search for types of packaging, they are actually looking for information that can help them avoid problems in five main areas. They want to make safe choices and lower the chance of issues with quality, cost, rules, speed, or risk in packaging for their products.
- Protection & Compliance – Food, pharma, and cosmetics need specific barriers and legible, durable labels that meet regulations; the wrong pairing leads to faded warnings, delamination, or recalls.
- Cost-to-Serve – Material, freight, and damage rates compound at scale. Picking lighter but strong enough substrates keeps CPC (cost per carton) and returns under control, critical as festive and quick-commerce spikes continue.
- Sustainability & EPR- Your packaging choices affect things like how much recycled material is in the package and how you do your EPR reports. Doing this correctly avoids fines and stops you from being accused of greenwashing.
- Operations & Speed- Quality of materials like cardboard and label glue directly affects production speed and meeting retail rules. Poor quality can cause significant delays and adherence issues.
- Brand & Shelf Impact- Your packaging’s look and feel, like a shiny finish or accurate printing, makes customers think that your product is of better quality, which motivates them to buy it. This effect is highly beneficial for premium products.
Why choose Prakash Label
Choosing your packaging also requires selecting a matching label and tracking system, like a barcode, that works seamlessly. Everything must align properly so your product looks good and you can easily track your products. All parts need to fit together so your product looks nice, the label sticks properly, and you can track each item easily. That is why choosing the Prakash label, for different types of packaging materials:
- Breadth of label materials
There is a large choice of label materials to package in. We sell paper, PP/PET films, clear-on-clear, metallic, vinyl, fabric, eco-friendly, and specialty so that you can use the correct label on cartons, plastics, glass, or metal. - Adhesives
Prakash offers high-tack on hard-to-clean surfaces, permanent and clean-removal cases, and supports permanent cases. - Print technologies
Practical and gloss finish to special metal finishing, Prakash film and polyester products include clear or opaque labels with matte or gloss finishes to achieve the best quality results. - Built-in traceability with Auto-ID
RFID labels and systems: Plug-and-play WMS, track-and-trace, compliance RFID labels and systems: readers, antennas, software. Significant due to the increase in networks. - Category expertise
Ready-to-wear label stacks of FMCG, cosmetics, pharma, liquor, garments, and even airlines (IATA-compliant) reduce the time to onboard.
Prakash Label ensures the label material, adhesive, finish, and Auto-ID are engineered to that choice so your pack looks great, scans first time, and survives the journey.
Conclusion
Indian brands are growing every day, and the different types of packaging materials should suit performance, sustainability, and compliance needs, then complete with a suitable label system. Prakash Label is fully labeled with paper, clear films, all-surface adhesives, and ready RFID or Auto-ID, making your choice of material a package ready to be both retail-ready and simple to operate.
FAQs
1. What are the different types of packaging materials?
There are different types of packaging materials that are used in secondary packaging, listed below :
- Plastic Crates
- Plastic Trays
- EPS Trays
- Wooden Crates
- Corrugated Fiber Board
- Wooden Containers
- Wooden Pallet
- Plastic Palle
2. What are the four main types of packaging?
The four main types are:
- Anti-corrosive Packaging
- Pharma Packaging
- Plastics Packaging
- Flexible Packaging
3. What are the 7 layers of packaging?
The 7 layers of packaging include 1 surface layer, 1 bottom layer, 3 corrugated layers, and 2 layers of partitions between 2 corrugated layers.