The global medical grade paper market is expected to grow from US$ 4,512.70 million in 2022 to US$ 5,630.75 million by 2028; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2022 to 2028. Factors such as rising demand for protective packaging in the medical device industry, increasing consumption of medical supplies, and rising need for convenient and easy-to-use medical-grade packaging suitable for maintaining sterility are driving the global medical grade paper market. However, stringent regulations on manufacturing medical grade paper and the availability of alternative products are hampering the market growth.

Medical grade paper is usually used to pack medical devices as it combines strength and well-balanced porosity and acts as a feasible protective material for medical devices, providing a safe and protective barrier as it is made up of cellulose fibers designed to allow sterilization agent penetration. It is primarily used for packaging and systems, including infusers, catheters, needles, gauges, gloves, bandages, and more. It is also widely adopted for pharmaceutical packaging purposes due to its capability to possess a high level of peel-ability and heat seal-ability, good effect of bacterial resistance, air permeability, environmentally friendly, and non-toxicity.

Sustainability-particularly regulatory and public concerns around single-use packaging waste-is combined with other influential trends to drive significant changes in the packaging operations. With the growing focus of regulators on sustainability, healthcare and medical device companies and retailers are proactively making bold commitments to make their packaging operations sustainable by fundamentally revisiting these operations. However, for packaging converters, the main focus and innovation capabilities is on the new types, which could offer significant growth and new partnership opportunities to support customers in revising their packaging portfolios. As consumer demand increases and regulatory requirements multiply, converters will have to embrace sustainability issues in the future proactively.

Manufacturers are concerned about the environmental effects of their products and are capitalizing on "reduce, reuse, and recycle." Growing energy and resin costs may make these eco-friendly steps particularly appealing. Further, maintaining a balance between more demanding production schedules and product & package sustainability is a significant challenge for the packaging industry. To overcome this hurdle, healthcare product manufacturers must implement packaging solutions that minimize the environmental impact of expanding product lines, introduce sustainability practices into new delivery systems, seek utility savings in new automation strategies, and leverage serialization.

Combining pharmaceutical products with medical device delivery systems can make the final product simpler and more convenient, ultimately requiring less packaging. Moreover, to ensure sustainability, manufacturers are investing in creating more inventive packaging solutions and using materials such as paper, paperboard, and polymers. To preserve qualities that are essential for sterile barrier performance, along with sustainable packaging, medical packaging firms are investing in research and development operations for launching next-generation polymers. Therefore, the growing focus on sustainability is providing significant opportunities to the medical grade paper market players.

Asia Pacific is the fastest-growing market for medical grade paper. China is expected to have the largest share of medical grade paper market in the region. As per a 2018 KPMG report, China is expected to have more than a 25% share of the global medical device industry, with sales exceeding US$ 200 billion by 2030, second only to the US. Medical grade paper is used to pack medical devices and consumables used for medical purposes. Thus, as the country's medical industry grows, so will the demand for medical grade paper. Moreover, China has a rapidly aging population. In 2020, more than 264 million people aged 60 and above, which translates to approximately 18.7% of China's population, according to the 2020 census. The country's aging population faces the increasing burden of acute and chronic diseases. As a result of the growing elderly demographic, the number of surgical procedures performed in China is also projected to increase at a CAGR between 10% and 15% from 2019 to 2022. The growing older population surges the need for sterile medical devices used for diagnostic treatment purposes, which, in turn, will increase the demand for medical paper packaging to protect and pack sterile devices.

The global medical grade paper market is categorized into product, application, and end user. Based on application, the global medical grade paper market is segmented into steam sterilization, ethylene oxide sterilization, formaldehyde sterilization, and irradiation sterilization. The ethylene oxide sterilization segment is estimated to account for the largest market share and is expected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. Ethylene oxide (ETO) sterilization is used to sterilize devices sensitive to moisture, heat, and pressure. Ethylene oxide gas used during the process is highly flammable. The process is performed under gas concentrations from 450 mg/l to 1200 mg/l, temperature from 37?C to 63?C, relative humidity from 40% to 80%, and exposure time from 1 hour to 6 hours. The medical-grade paper used to wrap the medical products to be sterilized via this method is designed with PET/PE multilayer copolymer film, as ETO may be absorbed in the paper. Medical devices such as catheters, resuscitation bags, anesthesia masks, fiberoptic instruments, and non-heat sensitive devices are sterilized using this method. The major advantages of ETO sterilization include compatibility with a wide variety of products, especially consisting of polymeric components used in medical devices; material compatibility is described in AAMI TIR 17. Products can be sterilized in their final packaging since ETO can permeate the sealed films or medical grade papers and cartons.

The British Journal of Surgery, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Food & Drug Administration (FDA) are among the primary and secondary sources referred to while preparing the global medical grade paper market report.