Iran War Promises Green Edge for Asia as Plastic Packaging Runs Short

Employees work at an assembly line producing car smartphone holders at a plastic accessories factory, as rising oil prices drive up production costs for plastic manufacturers, in Dongguan, Guangdong province, China, April 2, 2026. REUTERS/Go Nakamura

By Minwoo Park, Kaori Kaneko and John Geddie

An ‘eco-friendly’ range of paper tubes and pouches touted by Yonwoo, a South Korean maker of packaging for cosmetics, has reaped unexpected benefits from the Iran war, which has disrupted supplies of the plastic needed to turn out single-use wrapping.

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