Old is gold… literally!

It is estimated that by 2050, plastics in oceans would outweigh fish. Microplastics are found in air, water and soil. I also read a story about micro-plastics being there in a tea bag. Alarming, isn’t it?

There has been a lot of awareness about the ill effects of single-use plastics and with the Indian government imposing a ban on such plastics, there has been a lot of changes in the food and consumer durables industries. Due to the plastic ban,people are resorting to age-old packaging materials like glass and paper, which are more eco-friendly. Consumers are now making choices based on health concerns and ecological implications are so looking at sustainable options, thus putting a pressure on campanies to change their packaging.

With this, the demand for sheetfed and finishing lines for packaging containers,glasses,plates,etc is witnessing renewed interest.Glass bottles and jars, which were gradually replaced by plastic, are now in demand again. Glass is recyclable and it can be turned into its original form – sand. Glass bottles and jars can also be reused, for example, beer and cold drink bottles are refilled and repackaged. Bigwigs like Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo, and Allied Blenders and Distillers have already started considering glass bottles for their products. What’s more? Glass bottles convey more brand values and give an aesthetic look to the brands.

Paper & paperboard has again become a popular choice for single-use food packaging. So, manufactures of such packaging machines are getting higher demand for their machines. Printers are also eyeing the potential of such machines and are looking at diversification or capacity expansion in these areas.

So, packaging remains one of the biggest growth drivers in the printing industry and will continue for the next few years. This issue of Print & Publishing is packed with features on sustainable packaging and more.

Happy reading!

Sonal Khurana
sonal@smediagroup.in