The Ministry of MSME, in association with PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PHDCCI), organised a webinar titled Global Summit on Flexible Packaging from 23-24 February 2022.

Several brand owners and packaging experts addressed the challenges in the flexible packaging sector and examined the latest technologies that could replace multi-layer polymers.

Ajit Gupta, co-chair, PHDCCI Packaging Committee and director of Ajit Industries kicked off the session on day one with his opening remarks about future-ready flexible packaging and the latest technology in film extrusion. Jeevaraj Pillai, co-chair, PHDCCI Packaging Committee and joint president – packaging and new product development, UFlex presided over the event and highlighted the importance of EPR and how the policy defines the future course of action for the packaging industry.

Tanveer Alam, director of IIP, delivered the keynote address and spoke about how the Indian flexible industry was performing well on the sustainability quotient. He highlighted Indian companies like UFlex who were doing R&D in recyclability and innovation in mono-polymer flexible materials.

Christopher Lettowsky, technical director at Reifenhauser Blown Film talked about the latest technology in film extrusion. Whereas Meenu Sachdeva, assistant general manager, Ultimate Flexipack spoke about sustainable mono-material and high barrier laminates for food packaging.

Thorsten Hornung, CEO, Saperatec spoke about the advanced mechanical recycling of metal barrier flexible packaging materials. Toshio Yamaguchi, senior counsellor, sales and marketing at Japan-based Totani Corporation, which was also the associate partner of the summit, explained the technology for pouch-making with mono-material recyclable material, and highlighted the challenges and solutions for it.

The day concluded with a panel discussion between brand owners from Nestle South Asia, Mother Dairy Fruit and Vegetable, DS Group, Dabur India and Packfora, which was moderated by Deepak Manchanda from The Packaging Consortium.

On day two of the summit, Mirslov Hinkov, managing director at Bulgaria-based Mechatronica spoke about the latest technologies in laminates and flexi tubes. Hinkov elaborated on how reduction in material usage can be achieved by using thinner foils and integration of shoulder/cap. He also revealed how Mechatronica was planning to reduce aluminium usage and opt for pre- and post-consumer recycled materials.

Vishwanath Patil, senior product development manager – Asia, Global Tube Laminates, Huhtamaki spoke about sustainable development in tubes and highlighted what Huhtamaki has been doing to bring sustainable products to the market. He also introduced the company’s Blueloop sustainability solution.

Thomas Lefevre, vice president, business innovation, PackSys Global AG, Switzerland (a member of Buckner Group), explained in detail about the evolution of tube body and header geometry for more versatile tube formats. He also shed light on key trends in the laminate tubes segment.

The concluding session by Venkatesh Rajagopalan, business head – Tube Division, UFlex, was about enhancing aesthetics in flexi tubes. He showcased various tubes with different graphic effects and other latest innovations from UFlex.