Sometime in the latter part of the 20th century paper manufacturers began wrapping their reams of paper in plastic film. Previously they used a good stout paper, sometimes waxed or lacquered on one side to add moisture resistance. A flap at the end was easily lifted up, a finger slid between the wrappers and the glue quickly broken. Nearly every time the entire wrapper could be removed. I was in the print trade at the time. (I still am, but on a small, short-run, scale.) It was not uncommon for one of the longer print runs to provide 100 sheets of really good quality wrapping paper. We had space to store it. We used it to wrap finished jobs and other packages. At one stage, twety years ago, we had a pile a metre high. Now it is down to a hand-span, or so. It hurt me when visiting other print shops to see the wraps torn off and scrunched into the waste bin. (Maybe that is not done now that recycling is more popular, and waste disposal for tradesmen is chargeable.) Occasionaly customers comment on our saintly recycling, but we did it for economy. It was a freeby. Clean brown wrapping paper does cost a little.
Then the manufacturers saw the advantages of plastic wraps ~ strong ~ easy to apply by machines from long rolls ~ damp-proof ~ contents visible for all to see. My gripe (which they ignored - I did write and moan) was that they were in the paper-making trade. That is how ream wraps are packed to this day. As with DVD shrink wraps the plastic wraps are not easy to remove. Some manufacturers apply "can be resealed" labels ~ great idea ~ they never worked. The easy-lift flap was sucurely stuck down ~ the wrap tore instead of neatly opening ~ some plastics although very strong are exceedingly weak and likely to tear if a tiny scratch starts, so the idea of re-sealing is dead.
Nowadays the plastic flaps are now so securely stuck down that it is almost impossible to open them. I do have a note [113013] on what to do, and not to do.
Until an international ban on plastics arrives (this is written in 2019) they are unlikely to change, although some manufacturers still use paper wrappers. So I've had my rant. It may have some effect, somewhere.
I have finally to confess ~ once opened the ream wrap has to be kept clean and flat. Office printing machines do not like wrinkled paper, and it easy to bend a corner. Once we used cardboard storgae boxes. Now we use strong plastic boxes with lids. In our defence ~ please suggest something else ~ they will see out my lifetime as multi-use-items ~ they will be disposed of thoughtfully, by whoever has that chore.