1.1.1 The Chronology of Packaging Development
The use of packaging is often thought of as an industrialâage concept but this is entirely untrue. In more ancient times products of economic or nutritional value were always wrapped in a suitable material to convey the need to protect the contents. The Roman emperors and Byzantine kings frequently wrapped precious goods in all manner of materials from woven rattan baskets to carved and gilded inâlaid ebony boxes. Expensive luxury goods such as chalices and ceremonial goods are almost always stored in a suitable presentation case that demonstrates the value of the product contained within. Perfumes, chrism oils, and ceremonial jewellery have always been contained in sculpted and carved lidded boxes and glazed pottery. However, the use of bespoke packaging is really a modernâage phenomenon. Packaging use began with leaves and birch bark and other natural materials. In antiquity and prehistoric times humans wrapped their foods in crudely fashioned carriers and containers and also pelts and hides. The mass production of containers later involved woven materials (e.g. rushes and reeds) to create baskets and carriers and also textiles, pottery, and bronze amphora and carved objects (e.g. ivory, antler horn, and wood). Recent estimates place âcrude glassâ or vitrified materials and wood packaging use to at least 3000 BCE and these artefacts come from the Indus Valley civilisations and Mesopotamia.
In the modern era, that is, since the early 1900s, paper and cardboard have become extremely important packaging materials. Following the invention of plastics, the emerging industries making commercial packaging substituted plastic for paper as a primary packaging material. Many modern environmentalists hanker back to the times of the English Georgian and Victorian periods when forms of waxed paper were commonly used to wrap foods, such as cheese, butter, or meat, and pharmaceutical products, such as dried forms of poultices, pills (comprimĂ©s), and lozenges or oral dosage forms. A revolutionary step in packaging occurred in 1810 when Peter Durand, a British merchant, obtained a patent (UK no. 3372) for the first metal can. This can was for preservation packaging made from sheet metal to create a âcylindrical canisterâ. The actual invention of the âtin canâ is put down to Philippe de Girard of France, from whence the idea was taken up by Peter Durand. The idea of using hermetically sealed âcanningâ containers, based on ab initio food preservation work in glass containers, had been proposed initially by the inventor Nicolas Appert in 1809. Appert's outstanding work, looking at increasing the nutritional and microbiological safety of foods, pioneered sterilisation technology and glass bottle preservation. Durand went on in 1812 to sell his patent to two entrepreneurs, Bryan Donkin and John Hall, who refined the process and product. Donkin and Hall established the world's first commercial canning factory in Southwark Park Road, London, UK. Unfortunately, the earliest tin cans were sealed by soldering based on a tinâlead alloy. A cumulative poisoning causing persistent ingestion did occur after a period owing to the toxic nature of the lead in the solder, which was particularly enhanced when the contents of the can were mildly acidic. As a result, a doubleâseamed threeâpiece can began to be used from 1900. In later times the leadâbased solder was replaced with arc welding of the sheet âtinplateâ.
Tinplate became widely popular as it represented a stable, longâlasting, and impenetrable means of packaging for foods. The choice of packaging used conveys information as to the value of the product. For example, since approximately 2015 (and unchanged as of 2019), and depending on the source, glass is valued at US$0.1â0.6/kg (recovered glass US$0.02/kg), aluminium is valued at US$2â4/kg, tinplate is valued at US$0.7â1.1/kg, and higher grade paperboard is valued at US$0.3â0.6/kg; these contrast with most routine polyolefins (cheaper plastics, such as polypropylene [PP] and polyethylene [PE]), which are valued at US$0.1â0.5/kg. Therefore, choosing glass, which is dense (2.5â3.4 times that of paper and plastic), with a prerequisite for a greater than 0.2 cm wall thickness for strength, in the modern era suggests a highâvalue content since glass is both expensive and heavy and, therefore, has associated increased shipping costs. For many premium products the additional cost may be deflected by the large cost of the contents. For example, the cost of a can of green beans versus the cost of a bottle of champagne. In the former the can cost is approximately ÂŁ0.02â0.05, whereas in the latter the bottle cost is approximately ÂŁ0.50â1.00; this is because in the latter the contents cost at least 500 times more.
A series of different types of pharmaceutical packaging from across a 100 year period are shown in Figure 1.1. Amber glassware represents about 30% of medicine bottles. Modern medicine bottles are often fabricated from polyester tinted to mimic the oldâstyle amber glass bottles. A blueâtinted bottle is shown in the insert in Figure 1.1a. Other forms of bottles, such as frosted or tinted vessels, were also used across products in the past; in modern times, these are used to aid product promotion. Figure 1.1b shows allâaluminium screwâtop medicine cans that were used in the past but are used much less in the modern era. These have been superseded in many respects by the pushâout or âblister packâ form of medicines. Figure 1.1c shows a very old corkâtopped bottle and a VictorianâEdwardian steel box for pills, which are practically never seen in the modern era, except for marketing promotions. Figure 1.1 shows a range of midâtwentieth century, Edwardian, Victorian, and earlier packaging materials used for medicines. The containers cover green chromium glass, iron oxide amber glass, flint glass, and other common forms seen more routinely today, such as paperboard cartons and aluminium closures. The âearthenwareâ pottery vessel used in the past for medicine, milk, beer, and oil is rarely used in contemporary society but does find a place in speciality products as a marketing tool used to infer tradition and antiquity. Looking carefully at the range of packaging and comparing it ...
