Since climate change and the single-use plastic ban are in the headlines these days, the  ElitePlus team's focus is sustainability and circular economy. Three presentations in the opening session exemplify this. The first of the two keynote addresses sustainability being more than just a circular economy will be presented by Peter Steinbeck, who is the CEO and managing partner of Windmöller & Hölscher. After which there will be a keynote address about the perfect solution for sustainability and circular economy for the planet by Ashok Chaturvedi, who is the chairman and managing director of UFlex.

This will be followed by the growth story of India: FMCG and sustainability with a special focus in packaging by Sudhir Sitapati, who is the managing director and CEO of Godrej Consumer Products.  

There is a session about oriented films moving towards sustainability and achieving recyclability and sustainability in a circular economy.  As Pankaj Poddar, the Group CEO of Cosmo First said,  Sustainability is a concept which if acted upon today, will help save the environment we live in for the future. " Cosmo has been taking several industry first initiatives, to make sustainable business growth a part of the industry's DNA. Along with Poddar, there will be a presentation by K Manohar, who is the CEO of Max Speciality Films."

Toppan  has increased its stake to acquire a majority shareholding in Max Speciality Films, a leading Indian manufacturer of BOPP films. Max Speciality Films, a subsidiary of Max Ventures & Industries Limited, which manufactures specialty packaging films was investing up to Rs 500-mn in a new CPP line which will have a capacity of 7.2 kilo tonne per annum (KTPA).

In addition there is a session for R-Cycle – on recyclability of plastic packaging seamlessly – An overview on R – Cycle Europe; plus Ground Reality – status of environment issues and sustainability

A special session on sustainability is the highlight of the Summit. The keynote address about recycling – an excellent arbitrage opportunity for the investor community will be presented by Surendra Patawari who is the founder and chairman of Gemini Corporation. This will be followed by a panel discussion with the theme: R-Cycle – seamless recyclability of plastic packaging - An overview on R-Cycle Europe. The discussants are: Bernd Reifenhäuser who is the CEO of the Reifenhäuser Group; Richard Sandbrook CEng of Bobst and Esa-Matti Aalto of Olbrich Group.

The second panel discussion is ground realities - environment issues, EPR and sustainability which will be moderated by Jeevaraj Pillai, joint president (packaging & new product development) at UFlex. The discussants are: Dr. Ashok Kumar Tyagi of Haldiram Groups; Mani Vajipey of Banyan Nation; Dr. Vijay Habbu of Institute of Chemical Technology (ICT); Aditya Dalmia of Dalmia Polypro Industries and Srikrishna Balachandran  of Recykal.

Major attraction of the summit is the presence of brand owners like Amul, Bisleri, Britannia, Cavin Kare, Colgate Palmolive, DFM Foods Ltd, DS Group, Ericsson, Godrej, HAP, Hindustan Unilever Limited, Himalaya, Honeywell, ITC Limited, Johnson & Johnson, Marico, MTR, Nestle, Nykaa, Pansari Group, P&G, Pidilite, PepsiCo, RSPL, Reckitt Benckiser and Wipro.

As Nidhi Verma, the founder and managing director of ElitePlus Business Services said, "The Speciality Films and Flexible Packaging Summit attracts delegates, partners, and speakers from the global value chain of the Flexible Packaging sector, including raw material producers, converters, machinery manufacturers, additive and adhesive suppliers, printing machine manufacturers, brand owners, FMCG companies, Petchem Media, and policymakers from government officials."

The Summit will also include the printing, lamination, and post-extrusion finishing industries, as well as automation in material handling and important end users from the food, pharmaceutical, personal care, and agricultural sectors.