Editor’s Note: The flexible packaging industry is growing rapidly, and UFlex is a leader in the industry, both in packaging and in inks. Amit Shah, joint president and CMO, Flexible Packaging business, UFlex Limited, discusses the drivers for this growth as well as some of the recent innovations at UFlex.

Ink World: How has the flexible packaging industry been faring in recent years, and is it still growing today?

Amit Shah: The flexible packaging industry serves a wide range of sectors including FMCG, personal care, food & beverage, and pharmaceuticals. A research by allied market research indicates size of global flexible packaging market at USD 68.5 billion in 2021, which is projected to reach USD 102.8 billion by 2031 at a CAGR of 4.2%.

This growth is expected to be fuelled by rise of consumption of food and beverages, upgrades in packaging formats with high-barrier properties and ease of use, population growth, rise in income levels, urbanization, change in lifestyle, internet penetration, and expansion in conventional retailing and growth of e-commerce.  


Ink World: What are the key drivers for flexible packaging’s growth?

Amit Shah: As research by meticulous research indicates, several factors are contributing to the growth of flexible packaging. A growing consumer inclination toward convenience products, rapid urbanization, hectic lifestyles, increase in demand for handy/easy-to-carry unit packaging formats that are easy to open and are convenient to store are all fuelling the demand for flexible packaging.

Technical advancements in flexible packaging products such as retort pouches (boil-in-the-bag), bake-in-the-carton, mix-in-the-pouch, and serve-from-the-tray are other examples of flexible packaging products that deliver convenience that consumers demand. 

From the industry and brand owners’ point of view, cost-effectiveness, innovative solutions, improved barrier protection and additional properties, and product performance are the contributing factors for growth.


Ink World: How has UFlex grown in the flexible packaging market and what is driving this success?

Amit Shah: UFlex offers flexible packaging solutions across a wide range of product categories including FMCG, pet care, pharmaceuticals, personal care, beauty and cosmetics, construction and building materials, automobile and engineering components, and many more.

UFlex commenced its operations in 1985 with its engineering business, and over the years, we have diversified into other businesses of packaging including printing cylinders, packaging films, flexible packaging, chemicals, and holography.

In 2016, with the launch of aseptic packaging material manufacturing plant, we started offering packaging solutions for non-aerated liquid products such as juices, dairy products, thus offering a complete bouquet of products and solutions across the flexible packaging value-chain to our clients.

The company has the technical ability, domain expertise, innovative skills, and rich experience to develop flexible packaging solutions with optimized barrier properties, superior aesthetics, enhanced functionalities, high degree of eco-friendliness, and brand enhancement and protection features.

UFlex’s unrelenting focus and continuous investments in research and innovation to create value-added differentiation, speed-to-market, proximity to customers, vertical integration to offer end-to-end solutions across the flexible packaging spectrum and ability to deliver any quantum of order, anywhere in the world has led to the business vertical’s exponential growth over the last 15 years.

At UFlex, we are committed to providing innovative, cost-effective and optimised flexible packaging solutions to customers across different business segments around the world. Our success is driven by our commitment to deliver on this vision and the values and customer orientation that we will continue to uphold.
  

Ink World: UFlex is proud of its three pillars of sustainability, brand protection and innovation. How does UFlex’s emphasis on these three pillars contribute to its success in the flexible packaging market?

Amit Shah: Our emphasis on sustainability, brand protection and innovation gives us a competitive advantage in the market. It helps build brand equity for UFlex and is a key pillar of our customer acquisition and retention strategies. 

When it comes to sustainability, a research by Statistia shows that 44% of consumers worldwide are more likely to spend on sustainable brands or brands that adopt sustainable practices in their business. At UFlex, sustainability is in our DNA. We place a great deal of emphasis on sustainability, and our commitment to the environment is ever-increasing. As a leader in the industry, UFlex upholds its responsibility towards the planet and the environment with utmost dedication. While we are in the business of packaging, we place significant importance on reducing the waste we generate by recycling and upcycling it. In 1995, at the Davos Recycling Forum, we were recognised as the first company in the world to recycle mixed plastic waste from our recycling facilities in Noida, India, and our efforts have also been acknowledged by the Government of India.

We have recycling facilities at Noida, India, Poland and Mexico. At Noida, we upcycle post-consumer Multi-Layer mixed Plastic waste (MLP) into value-added household and industrial plastic products such as dustbins, outdoor furniture, and more. UFlex has recycled more than half a million tons of Multi-Layer mixed Plastic Waste (MLP)  so far and has spent more than 20 million US dollars in the last financial year at its Poland and Mexico sites. 

UFlex has been a pioneer when it comes to sustainable innovation and commitment toward a Circular Economy. Our focus on sustainability has contributed to our success as brand owners are keen to work with partners that invest and deliver on sustainable goals.

One of the strongest drivers of the company’s success has been our focus and investment in innovation. Our continuous investment in R&D to provide innovative packaging solutions to brand owners that are cost-effective, sustainable, and add value to their business has built trust with customers and strengthened our relations with them.

We put a lot of emphasis on creating solutions that are not only innovative and sustainable but also promote brand recall and prevent from counterfeiting. Our holography business has always been ahead of the curve when it comes to offering advanced anti-counterfeiting solutions with unique security features and brand enhancement features. The holography business offers an array of holographic solutions to brand owners to help their brands stand out on retail shelves, distinguish their products from fake products, and authenticate legitimate transactions and returns – thus promoting safe business practices.

Emphasising on our pillars of sustainability, brand protection and innovation has helped us enhance our corporate image and build goodwill and this has most definitely contributed to our success in the flexible packaging market globally.


Ink World: Sustainability is so important in today’s world. What initiatives are UFlex undertaking to increase sustainability?

Amit Shah: As an industry leader in building sustainable flexible packaging solutions, UFlex runs a global sustainability initiative called “Project Plastic Fix.” This initiative is aligned with the company’s sustainability approach of 4Rs to tackle the challenge of reducing stock and flow of plastic waste in the environment, i.e. ꟷ Reduce plastic at source by manufacturing and using films made from PCR | Recycle via upcycling and downcycling of MLP (Multi-Layer mixed Plastic) and PET containers, covers, other articles and bottles | Reuse as source substitution via Pyrolysis | Return to the planet in the form of biomass, if the plastic waste remains uncollected.

• REDUCE | ASCLEPIUS™: Up to 100% Post-Consumer Recycled Content (PCR) BOPET Barrier Film

When it comes to sustainable innovation and commitment to the Circular Economy, UFlex has been a trailblazer. As part of its commitment to a cleaner environment, our worldwide film production business, Flex Films, offers a whole line of post-consumer grade PCR Films with up to 100% post-consumer recycled PET content under the brand name Asclepius.

Based on 100% PCR polymer content, this film technology offers a series of plain, treated, coated, high barrier, and heat-sealable BOPET films. This film has a 75% lower carbon footprint than virgin BOPET grades while retaining the same properties as its twin substrate.

• RECYCLE | MLP Waste into Granules: Making Life Better for Humankind

Recycling plastic waste is an urgent necessity. More than 20 years ago, UFlex realized the importance of recovering plastic waste and set up recycling equipment at its facilities to turn multi-layer mixed plastic waste into granules. The additional benefit of the recycled materials (granules) is that it can be used to produce a wide range of industrial and domestic products, including dustbins, outdoor furniture, paver tiles, and roadways.

The introduction of packaging films by upcycling MLP waste into PCR PE films is another significant effort by UFlex to create “wealth out of waste.” With its ground-breaking technology to recycle MLP packaging waste uniformly, UFlex won the Packaging Gateway Excellence Awards 2020 in the category of “Environmental Impact.” Through all these initiatives, UFlex is advancing a circular plastic economy and improving the quality of life for all.

• REUSE | Pyrolsis Plant: Converting Its Waste Plastic into Fuel

UFlex’s Pyrolysis plant is a resource recovery technique that transforms MLP waste into energy sources, clearing the environment of plastic waste. In order to eliminate the need for energy-intensive machinery, UFlex converts the discarded plastic waste material generated daily by printing, unused trim, laminates, tubes, and other unprocessed materials at its Noida Packaging plant into liquid fuel, hydrocarbon gas, and carbon black.

• RETURN | 100% SUPER EARTH FRIENDLY BIODEGRADABLE PACKAGING

Flexzyme is an enzyme-based technology which, when it comes in contact with soil, completely breaks down uncollected flexible packaging waste into harmless elements such as water, biomass, and carbon. While addressing concerns related to uncollected plastic waste, biomass is nothing short of a fertiliser in the natural environment, and the technology has no negative environmental effects. Currently, the technique is being tested with a few consumer brands.


Ink World: What do you see as the future of the flexible packaging industry?

Amit Shah: The future of flexible packaging will definitely rely more on sustainability and Smart Packaging.

Smart Packaging consists of two types – intelligent and active packaging. Intelligent packaging refers to technologies that monitor and provide information on the state of the products, from source to destination. With the use of indicators, data carriers, and sensors, directly incorporated into the packaging, a new realm of communication is slowly but strongly emerging.

Active packaging interacts with the contents and helps extend the shelf life, often using light-filtering materials, oxygen and ethylene absorbers, moisture-regulating compounds, etc. In future, by utilizing augmented reality, virtual reality, and QR codes, manufacturers can attract end-consumers to interact directly and more frequently with their brands.