ceramic vessels, or pottery were used for pharmaceuticals, chemicals of medical use (e.g. opium elixir, Epsom salts, cold cream, quicksilver [mercury]), and foods (honey, beers, spirits, ginger beer). However, stoneware is now used as a value‐adding tool and to aid product marketing but there are no current forms of medicines making use of pottery. Part of the downfall of ceramics and their replacement with glass is a result of its lower cost in earlier times, e.g. Victorian and pre‐Victorian periods. In recent times, the return of stoneware has been used to infer a traditional basis for the manufacture of products (typically beverages and food) and thus extra value. Stoneware‐mimicking glasses have now also been made possible by frosting and compounding or pigmenting of the glass, and these have replaced nearly all food uses of ceramic containers.
1.2.2.3 Metal Packaging
Two materials, namely steel sheeting (or aluminium sheeting) and metallic ends, are used to make tinplate metal packaging. Higher grade iron, with less carbon, known as steel, forms the scaffold in the form of sheets that are electroplated with metallic tin to prevent oxidation. A further layer of organic or resinous lacquer is applied to the tin‐plated steel; therefore, any direct contact of steel with can contents (usually food) is removed. In this manner, corrosion‐resistant metal packages can be mass produced. Can bodies and ends are produced for various types of product such as high‐acid, low‐acid, and high‐sulfur‐resistant metal packaging. Other than food products, metal packaging is also used for the packaging of pigments, oils, waxes, paints, and chemical materials. The metal packaging forms a physical barrier, which is resistant to pests (insects and rodents) and also to humidity, light, and air. The thermal resistance of lacquered tin or aluminium cans favours sterilisation and is consequently used as a standard form of packaging. This is certainly the case for foods, where use is common because the can and contents can be heated and simultaneously cooled during retort sterilisation without contamination of the contents.
In the modern era, the important factors determining the preference of metal packaging are related to cost, metal abundance, environmental concerns, health concerns, and payments or levies. These have shaped modern production techniques and advances in the sophistication of manufacturing and handling machines used for various forms of container and formats of accessing the contents. As such, the development and wide‐scale use of easy‐to‐open lids, various surface designs, high structural robustness, and the tightness of seams assuring sterility are areas of considerable interest among manufacturers. Probably the most common form of making tin cans (tin‐plated steel; cans) is the drawn and redrawn process for steel or aluminium cans, with a ubiquitous example being the standard food can. The second most common form of making cans involves a DWI process for aluminium or steel cans, with a common example being the thin‐walled soft drink or beer can. Other processes include the drawn and ironed (DI) steel can; the shaped aluminium or steel can, e.g. the sardine or pilchard can; the stretch‐drawn ironed aluminium or steel can (Toyo ULtimate Can; TULC); and the welded side wall tin‐plated steel can. However, because of concerns over toxicity and lack of assurance in seam integrity, ‘soldered’ cans are rarely used in modern times. Additionally, combinations of the above forms of canning vessel may be used to create hybrid products. The frequency of use of the tin can as a routine form of preservation over the last 10–15 years for foods and beverages has seen an observable increase of roughly two times.
1.2.2.4 Paper and Cardboard Packaging
Paper at first appears to be a simple material but this is an underestimation of a complex polymeric resource that has a colourful and extensive history, with the material undergoing many processing revisions and refinements across the centuries. The first paper was constructed from woven and intertwined papyrus reeds and this even pre‐dates the well‐known originators of wood‐pulp paper in north‐eastern China. The process of making the ‘modern’ form of paper is thought to date back to the Han Dynasty (200 BCE to 200 CE). A Chinese court official, called Ts'ai Lun, in north‐eastern China fabricated fine‐grade paper sheeting by improving on an existing process dating from a century prior to his technological advancement. This paper was fabricated from fine‐fibre materials, such as mulberry, and the bark from nettles, hemp, and flax. The first recorded use of wrapping paper dates back to 100 BCE with paper made from hemp. The first paper book was dated at 256 CE and by 300 CE paper use was widespread in China and Japan. From about 750 CE paper use was seen to move from China via the ‘silk route’ to the Middle East. At approximately 900 CE paper was found ubiquitously in Egypt with an early form of paper packaging being used for wrapping spices and fruit dating back to 1035. From this point in time, paper use spread to Europe through the Spanish courts in 1085 and then on to the rest of Europe via France. By the late sixteenth century paper production in Europe was well established and there was a more formalised form of paper mill‐based production of paper in England, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Russia. In 1844 Friedrich Gottlob Keller and Charles Fenerty began undertaking experiments replacing cotton fabrics and substituting with an exclusive paper made only from wood pulp. Importantly, Henry Fourdrinier, a British engineer, and his brother, Sealy, invented and improved on a prototype of the casting Fourdrinier machine. The paper‐making machine changed the process from one of batch fabrication to one where continuous variable sized rolls of paper could be made with ease.
The basic raw material for making paper and cardboard packages is the polymer cellulose. Cellulose for paper pulp is usually obtained from specific species of trees and plants, which grow quickly, are easily replaced, and allow the material to be easily mechanically or chemically pulped. Favoured species include the cotton plant, which produces fine‐grade paper, and cellulose‐rich softwood trees, such as larch, pine, and spruce, or hardwoods, such as birch and poplar. Paper pulp may also be used to create cardboard that does not require the fine‐grained structure of refined paper. Both paper and paperboard boxes and cartons are among the most cost‐effective ways of packaging goods and have the added advantage of excellent recyclability. Commercial paper and cardboard for packaging applications require sound puncture or tear resistance and need to offer the pack contents protection from humidity and light.
Corrugated cardboards are produced by two flat paper liners bonded to one another by a corrugated layer called fluting. The three or more layers are glued by a material usually made from maize starch or polymeric water‐based adhesive. This gluing function provides the material with strength and unity and enables the material to provide cushioned protection of the encased product against impact from the corrugated layer. Secondary packaging made of corrugated cardboard is very popular among manufacturers. This is mainly because of the cheapness of these packages but also the low weight to high strength ratio that provides adequate protection [4]. Key performance‐indicating test methods for packaging include puncture resistance to defy a force that will allow a tool of a specified shape and dimensions to puncture and pass completely through a test specimen. Similar test criteria can be applied to tear and bending deformation and bursting strength resistance along with crush resistance.
1.2.2.5 Wooden Packaging
Commercial wooden packaging is a rarely used commodity in modern times. Despite being one of the oldest packaging materials, its use for foods, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices is now virtually non‐existent. A combination of weight, fragility, risk of contamination during transport or reuse, and durability mean its only use is for luxury goods and some fruit or vegetable shipments. Wood used for packaging material is customarily treated with pesticides and insecticides to avoid infestation and to protect its contents. Examples of the persistent use of wood include pallets (for heavy goods), boxes (often for valued products such as tea and coffee), crates (fruit or wine), and barrels (beer, wine, and liquors).
1.2.2.6 Plastic Packaging
The plastic packaging used across the globe is made from processing various products from crude oil and gas. However, only about 5% of global oil resources are used in the production of plastic and an astonishing mere 3.5% of this small amount is lavished on the production
