Interpack live: India’s Supreme Industries highlights the “irreplaceability” of plastic
10 May 2023 --- India’s largest plastics processor Supreme Industries, is joining the Interpack trade show for the first time this year, intending to bring its Performance Film Division to a global audience. At the show floor, PackagingInsights sits down with Vivek Taparia, vice president at Supreme Industries, to learn about India’s plastic packaging industry.
“We are presenting our packaging vertical, which comprises three product groups. We are in the food packaging space for modified atmosphere packaging and barrier packaging, in the protective packaging space for different kinds of foams and derivatives, which are going for insulation, even automobile applications, toys and yoga mats. The [third] is our cross-laminated film, which is a special product,” says Taparia.
“We have a lot of applications for [the cross-laminated film] in India in the agricultural space. We also develop a lot of customized solutions for covering and protecting solutions and grain drying. So here [at Interpack], when we are with this product, we get more customer feedback on what else we can do because it’s a very versatile product. We can make various shapes and sizes with this.”
From left to right: Vivek Taparia, VP at Supreme Industries, Peter Steinbeck, chairman and CEO at Windmoller & Holscher, and MP Taparia, MD at Supreme Industries, with other customers. Taparia further details that Supreme Industries processes over 500,000 metric tons of polymers annually and has a “fairly large footprint in the plastic industry in India.”
“We have 28 factories in India and nine product groups, out of which, three are being presented in this show. It’s the first time at the show, and the response for all three product groups has been quite encouraging. And we are definitely coming back for the next edition as well,” he affirms.
“No set solution”
According to Taparia, plastic is “irreplaceable.” He says environmental sustainability should be an area of focus, but with how the world has grown, plastic is still needed in nearly every strata of life.
“Environmental sustainability must be a way of the future. But the spaces in which we exist, a lot of plastics are required – maybe 100 years ago, not so much, but the way the world and the population have grown, you can’t live without plastic.”
Global market researcher Innova Market Insights revealed “Plastics circularization” as the top packaging trend for 2023, finding that plastic packaging consumption will continue to grow despite anti-plastic sentiment. According to the researcher, 61% of global consumers believe the increased use of plastic packaging is necessary for safety reasons since the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In an effort to improve plastic circularity, we’re noticing an increasing shift toward monomaterial films using LDPE and PP, for which recycling infrastructure already exists,” said Akhil Eashwar Aiyar, projects leader at Innova Market Insights.
Supreme’s cross-laminated films is special and has various applications in India’s agricultural space.
Material matters
Supreme’s Performance Film Division manufactures multilayer ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer and nylon barrier films for flexible packaging that can be customized for various applications in the food and snack, concentrates, pharmaceuticals, pet care, cement and agricultural industries.
“All group of products we are selling in domestically or for export markets are recyclable through mechanical or advanced recycling technologies. Moreover, end-of-life options are also available for all our products,” Taparia highlights. To meet the demands for environmental sustainability, the company focuses on monomaterial and down-gauging.
“We’re going a fair amount in the single-family plastics using a lesser barrier, which makes it a little bit more recyclable. It can go into downstream applications such as moulded products. Additionally, our cross-laminated films are UV-stabilized 100% PE, which can be recycled. These have long shelf lives and can be used out for three to five years,” Taparia concludes.
By Radhika Sikaria
