*4.3. Packaging Manufacturers*

The responses reveal that the impact of COVID-19 at this stage of the value chain is generally positive and the interest in packaging made from biocomposites is growing.

Representatives of the food packaging industry pointed out that in the context of climate change, the public increasingly wants to see manufacturing companies doing business in a sustainable way that does not harm the environment. When it comes to health, safety, and the environment, food packaging manufacturers, along with end consumers, are keen to take control if chemical companies really practice what they preach and correspondingly can attest to the credibility of their communications.

Cosmetics packaging manufacturers indicated that brands selling natural cosmetics also prefer environmentally friendly packaging. On the other hand, the cosmetics (end product) manufacturing trends are currently focused on simplicity—fewer ingredients, concentrated composition, addressing a specific problem.

The cosmetics packaging manufacturing industry is also considered to be less sensitive to the price of packaging. Packaging manufacturers understand that it is important to offer a quality product and also relevant packaging that delivers on what has been promised to the end customer. At the same time, the cosmetics packaging industry is very complex—as technical and complex as food packaging manufacturing.

The demand for biodegradable packaging in the cosmetics industry is huge. Currently, all cosmetics manufacturers are looking for packaging solutions that are recyclable or alternative materials that do not contain microplastics. If the packaging is biodegradable, impermeable, and does not contain microplastics, there will be huge market demand for such packaging.

Conventional flexible plastic packaging is a rapidly growing segment, yet historically, less than 4% of flexible packaging is recycled. Flexible plastics are the leading polluting source to the oceans, with a minimum of 5 M tons (of 11 M) being disposed of each year into the sea.

The overall results of the interviews show that there is rapidly growing interest from product manufacturers toward biodegradable packaging, especially over the recent years.

## *4.4. Product Manufacturers*

The impact of COVID-19 has been evaluated as neutral by product manufacturers. Informants of the interviews confirm that entrepreneurs following the sustainability shift continue this development direction also during COVID-19.

*"We continue to work with eco and sustainability issues as we did it before. It may take 3 or 4 years from the idea of the new product to the production and sales requiring more time than prior to COVID-19"*
