South America Flexible Packaging Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecast (2025 - 2030)

South America Flexible Packaging Market Trends and Insights

Boom in E-commerce Fulfilment Packaging

Regional digital-commerce sales continue to rise as consumers migrate toward online grocery and meal-delivery platforms, generating higher parcel volumes that favor lightweight flexible formats. World Bank economists expect South America and the Caribbean GDP to grow 2.5% in 2025, up from 2.2% in 2024, a trend that underpins household consumption.^{[1]World Bank Prospects Group, “Global Economic Prospects,” worldbank.org} Large converters, such as Berry Global, reported modest volume gains in South American consumer films in fiscal 2024, crediting pantry-loading and grocery channel shifts. Mexico’s USD 2.5 billion food-delivery sector generated more than 300,000 tons of packaging waste in 2024, yet less than 10% of it entered recycling streams, highlighting an urgent need for lighter, easier-to-recycle flexible options. Brands now specify recyclable mono-material mailer films and high-barrier pouches for ambient foods to cut freight weight and carbon footprints while protecting contents during erratic last-mile handling. The e-commerce channel, therefore, adds a predictable baseline of multi-SKU demand to the South America flexible packaging market.

Rising Demand for High-Barrier Snack Pouches

Convenience-oriented consumers favor resealable snack, treat, and premium pet foods that require oxygen- and moisture-barrier structures to preserve quality in warm, humid climates. Brazil’s pet population of 139.3 million animals generated more than BRL 15 billion (USD 0.18 billion) in 2018, and the segment grew 8.5% annually between 2011 and 2018, cementing a durable use-case for high-barrier laminates. Sealed Air’s food division delivered 3% sales growth in Q4 2024, attributing out-performance to retail meat and specialty snack conversions into advanced pouch designs. Converter investments in EVOH-layered co-extrusions and metallized films now target both human and pet snack brands seeking shelf-life parity with cans while maintaining a premium look. The resulting migration lifts the average value per tonne and reinforces the South America flexible packaging market as a solution for high-margin categories.

Mandatory Recycled-Content Quotas in Brazil and Chile

Governments pursue circular-economy outcomes by obligating brand owners to incorporate PCR into packaging. Chile requires beverage containers to include 15% recycled material by 2025, with the percentage incrementally rising to 70% by 2060. Brazil’s reverse-logistics decree mandates shared responsibility across the value chain and has already attracted 3,475 public-consultation comments, signalling strong enforcement intent. Flexible converters with integrated wash, sort, and extrude lines gain preferential supplier status as multinational CPGs scramble to secure food-grade PCR. Smaller firms that lack access to consistent feedstock face margin squeeze or exit, accelerating consolidation across the South America flexible packaging industry.

Cold-Chain Expansion for Fresh Produce Exports

Colombia, Argentina, and Chile are expanding refrigerated logistics corridors to transport avocados, berries, and citrus to North American and European supermarkets. World Bank studies show that an inadequate cold chain can double export costs for perishables, prompting governments to co-finance containerization upgrades. Trade agency ProColombia highlights modified-atmosphere liners and anti-fog produce bags as cost-effective tools to extend shelf life during multi-day voyages. Flexible suppliers that engineer gas-transmission-rate-optimized films capture incremental tonnage as produce exporters standardize pack formats.

Strict Single-Use-Plastic Bans in Mexico City and Bogotá

Urban ordinances restrict traditional take-out bags, straws, and cutlery, directly trimming high-volume single-serve flexible demand. Mexico City’s ban coincides with the city’s 300,000-tonne annual food-delivery plastic waste problem, of which under 10% is recycled. Bogotá’s enforcement escalates import permit scrutiny, with U.S. Department of Agriculture reports noting an increase in shipment detentions in early 2025. Food-service apps and quick-commerce players are trialing reusable or compost­able systems, further curbing the flow of conventional plastics. Flexible suppliers must pivot toward compliant bio-based substrates or risk volume loss in densely populated capitals that set national policy precedents.

Shortage of Domestic PCR Resin Supply

Despite Brazil achieving a 55% PET collection rate, food-grade recycled pellets remain scarce because cheap virgin imports depressed recycled polymer prices by 28% in 2024.^{[2]Sustainable Plastics, “PET Recycling in Brazil,” sustainableplastics.com}Valgroup’s 4,000-tonne-per-month bottle-to-bottle plant covers only half the current brand-owner demand, forcing converters to import PCR at currency-linked premiums. Argentina’s inflation and trade controls add further friction, deterring investment in advanced sortation. Limited feedstock availability hampers producers' ability to meet mandated recycled-content thresholds, slowing certain high-volume conversions across the South America flexible packaging market.

Segment Analysis

By Material Type: Plastics Maintain Scale While Paper Accelerates

Plastics contributed 87.16% of South America's flexible packaging market share in 2024, as PE, BOPP, and CPP lines operated near nameplate capacity to serve food and personal-care customers.^{[3]Sonoco Products Company, “2023 Annual Report,” sonoco.com} The material suite benefits from Orbia’s USD 2.7 billion polymer revenue stream and a projected 3.6% increase in PVC demand from 2024 to 2030. The South America flexible packaging market size for plastics still expands, albeit at a moderating clip, as regulators target virgin content. 

Paper alternatives post the segment’s fastest 4.78% CAGR because CPG owners seek kerbside-recyclable mono-material sachets and wraps. Sonoco’s EnviroFlex Paper roll-out across snacks and condiments validates technical feasibility and provides converters with a lower-barrier route to meet upcoming EPR fees. Aluminum foil remains a niche layer in pharmaceutical blister stock and high-barrier pouches, but cost and limited recycling channels restrain volume growth. Over the forecast period, plastics retain primary status, yet paper’s share uptick signals a broadened competitive palette that reshapes raw-material procurement strategies.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Product Type: Pouches Capture Preference in Omni-Channel Retail

Pouches accounted for 38.67% of South America's flexible packaging market size in 2024 and are forecasted to have a 4.36% CAGR as stand-up formats accommodate both shelf merchandising and e-commerce dimensional-weight targets. Rigid-to-flexible conversions in dry pet food and powdered beverages support sustained order books.

Sachets and bags retain relevance in value-tier foods and agricultural inputs, although their growth trails that of pouches because governments scrutinize multi-layer laminations that lack recovery pathways. Shrink sleeves and labels gain traction in beverage multipacks, while fiber-based cartons begin to cannibalize certain use cases. Films and wraps serve as pallet protection and over-wrap roles, but volumes flatten where municipal bans curb the use of secondary plastic. Across all formats, automated filling and sealing investments converge on pouch lines, reinforcing their centrality to the South America flexible packaging market.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By End-User Industry: Food Dominates While Pharma Outpaces

Food retained a 55.29% revenue stake in 2024, riding on South America’s strong cattle, poultry, and fruit supply chains. Sealed Air’s food division captured 3% organic growth in Q4 2024 on the back of retail meat and cheese demand that depends on modified-atmosphere pouches. The South America flexible packaging industry also benefits from rising frozen produce exports enabled by expanded cold-storage networks.

Pharmaceutical and medical products are expected to mark the fastest growth rate of 4.52% CAGR as ANVISA enforces new e-labeling and device sterility rules. Drug-delivery sachets, IV-bag over-pouches, and test-kit laminates call for high-barrier, low-leachable films that few regional converters can supply at scale. Household and personal-care segments benefit from e-commerce subscription models, while beverage flexibility is tempered by fiber-based pouch pilots among multinational soft drink bottlers.

Geography Analysis

Brazil remains the epicenter of the South America flexible packaging market with a 35.54% share in 2024. Its reverse logistics decree engages manufacturers, importers, and consumers in collection networks, enabling 3,475 stakeholder comments that shaped the final legislation.^{[4]Ministério do Meio Ambiente, “Consulta Pública,” gov.br}ANVISA’s 2024-2025 agenda tightens device-sterility and e-labeling norms, positioning Brazil as the most stringent regulatory environment, which benefits converters with ISO 13485-certified cleanrooms. Pet food dynamics contribute to structural volume, as 139.3 million animals consume premium treats that require high-barrier pouches.

Argentina records the fastest 4.43% CAGR outlook. World Bank economists cite improving debt sustainability and trade openness as catalysts for packaging demand in meat and dairy exports. However, polymer imports face periodic surcharges and currency fluctuations that challenge the cash flows of converters. Investors nonetheless reassess project pipelines as inflation expectations cool under proposed fiscal frameworks.

Elsewhere, Chile is pioneering a 15% recycled-content mandate, beginning in 2025, which will ramp up to 70% by 2060, compelling brand owners to secure PCR supply or redesign products into fiber alternatives. Mexico’s mega metro single-use bans reshape food-delivery packaging, nudging platforms toward reusable container pilots. Colombia’s stricter import-permit rules complicate raw-material sourcing; however, avocado and mango exporters adopt advanced breathable films to sustain cold-chain integrity, thereby securing flexible demand despite administrative bottlenecks. The mosaic of policy and economic conditions keeps supply chains regionalized and spurs the development of adaptive product portfolios across the South America flexible packaging market.