Plastic is playing an important role in the country's economy in the form of a wide range of consumer products and industrial components and accessories. The large scale adoption of plastics packaging is a relatively new phenomenon in India. The plastic packing material demand is increasing day-by-day and in fact today 50% of all plastic products in the world are converted into a packing material in one form or the other owing to their useful properties. Plastic is preferred in packing as it is light in weight, easy to handle and dispose, non-toxic and safe. It has excellent barrier properties and can be designed and manufactured in various forms and sizes.

Plastics due to their versatility are making good in roads in the field of packaging of variety of products such as processed and conveniences foods, pharmaceuticals and medicines, cosmetics and toiletries, household chemicals, agriculture chemicals and pesticides, detergents etc. Being sythetics material they can be tailor-made to meet even the most demanding performances requirement of the product to be packed. Plastic can be converted to any desired shape form or capacity by selecting one of the many process available for conversation.

Different plastic offer a wide range of properties giving manufacturers and end users the freedom to choose the type of plastics material or a combination of them that best suit their packing requirement. Plastics can be rigid, when protection is the main requirement. They can be flexible for the convenience in use. They may be semi-rigid as in the case of tubes. They may be opaque or clear or transparent.

For many products such as food and pharmaceuticals one of the most important function of the packages is to protect the product. In such cases, barrier properties and mechanical properties are of permanent importance. Packing material like LDPE and HDPE are good moisture barrier and as such most suitable for packing food, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics products.