Packaging Industry Evolving Rapidly

Magazine

Industry Outlook Team

Jeevaraj Pillai, Jt. President Packaging & New Product Development (Flexible Packaging Business), Uflex, in an interaction with Sudhakar Singh, Editor, Industry Outlook, shares his views on the current evolution of the packaging industry.

How has the packaging industry evolved in the recent times, especially given during the pandemic?

Flexible packaging covers a very large band of food products and essentials. So, when the lockdown was announced, we had to gear up with all our resources to keep the plant running; otherwise the supply chain would have been disrupted. Most of the staples like rice, sugar, oil, tea, coffee, biscuits etc are the main food products which are packed in flexible packaging material. Continuing the operations was a challenge initially with the absenteeism and people not being able to reach the factory. But we were successful enough to keep the plant running and continue production on full scale.

So for us, there was no lockdown per se and we had to put in all our efforts to bring in people and generate passes to run the factory. As for the disruption and market volatility, essentials were quite stable. In the packaging industry, whoever was successful in running the plant was able to produce at the same rate as the time during the pre-pandemic period.

What are the major challenges faced by manufacturers? And how are they addressing them?

India manufactures a lot of plastic raw materials but major consumption of raw materials is from large players through import. Moreover, the transportation industry was badly affected because of inter-district and interstate movement restrictions. So, maintaining a supply chain in terms of raw material was a big challenge. But fortunately for us, we do most of the manufacturing of raw materials ourselves. So, as for the packaging industry, we were least affected, but by and large, the industry was affected because of the issues in the transportation.

Also the goods which were produced had to be transported to different customers. That was a challenge because of the inter-state and inter-district movement restrictions. The home ministry used to come out with broad guidelines which had to be implemented by the district authorities and administration and they interpreted it and then according to the situation they kept modifying it.

The consumer packaged goods industry is witnessing increasing demand for packaging. How are the packaging solution providers gearing up for this challenge?

There has been a shift in consumption pattern and the young generation wants everything on the go. So, the challenge for us and the technology which we wanted to get in for consumer goods was that of easy dispensation, ease of functionality, and ease of using the contents of the package material. For example, the liquid soap was made in spout pouches. So, you open the spout cap, just pour it as much as you want and close it back. Earlier, this used to be poured into a bottle. There were three dimensional pouches which were developed where the biscuits and the snacking could be had directly from the pouch and there would be a ziplock or slider lock to close it. Other example is of five kg rice bag which is difficult to carry. So, we developed the handles, which enabled buyers to carry the five kg rice bag. Even for 10 kilogram bag, we could develop a solid handle for carrying them. So, a shift in consumer behavior in this direction has taken place and is getting accelerated.

A major concern is the impact of the kind of packaging which is done on the environment. How do you think new technologies are going to be helpful in this regard?

In the last couple of years, Indian Government has been very strict in terms of environment compliance. There have been rules and regulations binding the plastic manufacturers to follow certain guidelines to protect the environment. For example, there are PWM (plastic waste management) rules, which were published by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change which stipulated several regulations for every manufacturer to follow in a more sustainable manner. Uflex also developed a biodegradable pouch. After consuming the contents, generally people just throw it away. And these packs would clog the gutter and drainages which causes harm to the environment because there will be flooding taking place resulting from the drainage getting choked. Moreover, it's a very ugly sight when you come out on the street and you find tons of plastic waste and litter around.

So, we developed a technology wherein under soil litter conditions, the bag will itself start getting biodegraded over a period of time. This is a technology which has been developed and the government is promoting such technology. Then we had developed a technology to recycle the waste. So, anybody and anyone who can collect the multi-layer plastic waste from the environment, they can bring back to us and we will recycle that. We are doing a campaign in Noida, where we collect the waste. This is a big initiative not only by us but there are many packaging companies doing this. So, nimble and responsible packaging is the key.

Moving ahead, what kind of transformation do you think is missing in the current packaging industry and where do you see this industry in the near future? What is the future roadmap for Uflex?

Almost close to a trillion dollar economy is based on the packaging industry as all the multinational consumer goods or oils, chemicals, fertilizers, cement etc is dependent on plastic packaging. So, now it is getting recognition. But even now, the regulations are not completely in line with the requirements of packaging industry. So, packaging industry is also fighting on the sustainability front because perception by most people is that packaging is environmentally unfriendly which is not the fact because packaging consumes less power, less shelf space, the transportation cost is less, the product ratio per pack of material is also very high. So, this is actually environment friendly. Because of the pandemic, there was a little setback but now we are working in line with the Ministry of Environment’s regulations to use only 100% recyclable and biodegradable packaging material.