Top packaging news from India

We bring to you the latest stories from the world of packaging. Here's a round-up of the week that went by.

20 Feb 2017 | By Priya Raju

Voith is bullish about India.
 
The German multinational corporation Voith GmbH sees potential in the paper sector where packaging and speciality papers are expected to gather pace. The €4.25-billion (in revenue) corporation is eyeing the unfolding potential in India.

Uwe Knotzer, chairman, Voith Turbo who was in India spoke to business daily recently. He said, "The demand from packaging material is likely to grow significantly in India with the need to transport goods and also due to retail and online sales, requiring superior packaging materials. This has meant that the paper industry is changing and upgrading its machines for new requirements."

Knotzer added, "There is also growing demand for special grade papers and tissue papers. Significantly, every third paper that rolls out globally is from our machines. JK Paper, TNPL, ITC among others have either upgraded or are upgrading and setting up newer machines."

Jean-Pascal Bobst to attend Parksons inauguration

Jean Pascal Bobst, the chief executive officer of the Bobst Group along with other CEOs and print luminaries will attend the Parksons Packaging new folding carton plant opening in Sri City (Andhra Pradesh).

bobst-jean
Jean Pascal Bobst, the chief executive officer of the Bobst Group

Jean-Pascal Bobst represents the fourth generation of the Bobst family in the company, after Bobst Group was founded by his ancestor Joseph Bobst in 1890 in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Bobst is one of the world’s leading suppliers of equipment and services to packaging and label manufacturers in the folding carton, corrugated board and flexible materials industries.

Founded in 1890 by Joseph Bobst in Lausanne, Switzerland, Bobst has a presence in more than 50 countries, runs 12 production facilities in 8 countries and employs close to 5000 people around the world.

Parksons Sri City factory to be inaugurated on 24 February

Top CEOs and print luminaries will attend the Parksons Packaging new folding carton plant opening in Sri City (Andhra Pradesh). According to Ramesh Kejriwal, chairman of Parksons Packaging "The greenfield plant is built over a ten-acre parcel of land and the first phase of investment will house the best in class technology from Heidelberg and Bobst among others and will be completely equipped to provide end to end solution to all our customers."

The inauguration will transpire on 24 February, 2017. After which there will be a high-powered panel discussion at ITC Chola in Chennai led by Parksons board member, Vindi Banga, along with eminent CEOs from the FMCG and healthcare industry.

Fire in Bhiwandi, four dead

Four people were killed, and two others suffered burns, when a major fire broke out in a godown in Bhiwandi, near Mumbai on 19 February. Four bodies were recovered from the godown, located in Harihar Complex in Bhiwandi's Dapoda. The godown is used for the colouring of artificial pearls.

The blaze broke out at a godown at Harihar complex in Dapoda around 12.30 PM, Thane Municipal Corporation said. Plastic waste is supposed to be the reason for the conflagration.

Fire and lack of fire safety is a common problem that plagues our industry.

The first thing you need to do to make your fire strategy work is inculcated in your staff, according to PrintWeek India. You have to explain the how and the why of it, because without their co-operation it will fail.

Once the system is implemented there needs to be an effective monitoring procedure and dedicated roles assigned to the task, because: You can put all sorts of systems in place, but with the best will in the world, if you don’t monitor them, they’ll just break down.

Ensure it’s a simple process. If the system becomes too complicated there is more room for communication breakdown and error.

Uniforms made out of plastic

All plastic is not bad news.

There is a company called Unifi, based in Greensboro, North Carolina which has produced 300 million pounds of polyester and nylon yarn annually out of plastic. Here: crunch the data for yourself, basically it turns four billion plastic bottles into clothes.

Some 400,000 college students will accept diplomas this year while wearing gowns made entirely of plastic bottles. It takes 27 used bottles to make one gown.

And it's not all down market stuff. Repreve yarn is used to make everything from jackets and T-shirts to dress pants and even car upholstery. It's used in brands like Patagonia, The North Face, Levi's, Adidas, Nike (NKE) and Ford (F).

Unifi's Repreve recycling centre is a 50,000 square foot facility in Yadkinville, North Carolina, where plastic bottles, fibre waste and fabric scraps get deposited. The company makes three types of recycled yarn: 100% from used plastic bottles, a hybrid of plastic bottles and fiber waste, and a hybrid of plastic bottles and used fabric.