During his previous conversations with the WhatPackaging? team, Suresh Gupta, president of IFCA had addressed the issue of waste management. He said, "Today what is plastic waste management’ will become ‘Packaging Waste Management’ and finally turn into ‘Solid Waste Management’.” He will deliever the president's address at the IFCA seminar. 

The keynote speaker is CK Ranganathan, the founder and CMD of Cavinkare. Known as the 'father of sachets' in the FMCG domain, CK Ranganathan realised how value-conscious Indian consumers were much before the competition. Ranganathan has personally worked on the machines, packing sachets. He went the market to buy material, and travelled from village to village on bicycle as a salesman . Even today, he says, it was "the foundation that gave connectivity with the grassroots".

Ranganathan is of the firm view that one does not need deep pockets to compete with MNCs. He has said, "All you require are big ideas and execution talent."

S Sunil Kumar of Henkel will speak about adhesives and coatings as enablers of circular economy. Henkel believes circular economy is broader than just recycling. "It covers design and the use of recycled materials. The Henkel team believes circular economy covers design and the use of recycled materials.

The other speakers are: Ajith Kumar, director, supply-chain and QA of Tata Starbucks; Kelvin Davies, Australian Project Manager of Nektek (on behalf of Brilliant Polymers) who will discuss the latest trends in plastic waste management; Rahul Poddar, the managing director of Shakti Plastic Industries.

The post lunch sessions are: Shubhi Sachan of Uflex who will talk about moving from linear to circular solutions; Sunil Bhagwat of Huhtamaki whose presentation is titled "From Waste to Resource, Let’s Loop"; Jatin Takkar of Siegwerk will speak about safe packaging inks; Pravin Nadgoundi of Brilliant Polymers who will talk about food safety from a lamination adhesive perspective; Dr Ajay Kumar Nema of Constantia on a flexible mindset for a better future; and finally Meenakshi Sapru of Huhtamaki about limitless possibilities in packaging through digital printing.

Highlighting the importance of the IFCA seminar, Suresh Gupta said, "The quality of a society can be judged by the quality packaging, a good society consumes without damaging the environment. India should adapt to a simple statement that is business with purpose, as it affects the billions of people, it should raise the standards for the existing human race. The IFCA seminar hopes to address some of these issues on 22 October."

To attend the IFCA seminar, contact IFCA Secretariat: V Narayanan (08879431651), Milind Wagle (09821127409), Vilas Dighe (09820501422)