UFlex gears up To reduce Delhi-NCR Plastic Waste: Commissions India’s First Plant for washing & recycling of Multi-Layer Plastic and PET Bottles’ Waste

Of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic that has been produced in the world, a recent study states that a whopping 6.3 billion metric tons has become plastic waste either lying in the landfill or swimming in the ocean. A meagre 9% of this plastic waste gets recycled. Reports indicate that by 2050, there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic on this planet, if there isn’t an eco-system built to recycle plastic waste.

UFlex, a pioneer in Multilayer Plastic Manufacturing and Waste recycling, is scaling up its recycling strength to help build a circular economy, by the way of setting up two lines that will wash and recycle post-consumer waste and subsequently give a second life to plastics. This pilot plant in its Noida facility commenced its operations and is aimed to mitigate the piling plastic dumps in Delhi–NCR by recycling collected post-consumer waste PET Bottles and Multi-layer Plastic packaging into chips and granules, put into further use to make products with economic value. In line with its global sustainability campaign ‘Project Plastic Fix’, UFlex will steer its efforts towards keeping plastic in the economy and out of the environment, converting waste into wealth.

drupa Cube 2020: Eleven days of vision and inspiration

drupa is much more than just a global trade exhibition for the print industry - drupa ranks as a top international fair that identifies important trends, offers insights into future developments and drives inspiration.

To provide participants with the best possible visitor experience, drupa invests in top-class knowledge transfer through its five special forums, the drupa Cube being one of them. “educate - engage - entertain” has once again been chosen as the slogan of the drupa Cube for 2020, designed to provide a broad spectrum of highly relevant content that is motivating, highly stimulating and interactive for visitors thanks to the various talk formats. World-renowned speakers are set to create a buzz with a visionary range of topics. Best-selling author Michael Gale and internationally renowned designer James Sommerville will also contribute to the top-class programme with keynotes.

Finat Technical Seminar 2020 ‘Turning technology into value in the label & packaging industry’

Set to take place from 4-6 March 2020 at the Crowne Plaza Barcelona Fira Center, the Technical Seminar promises to provide participants a deeper understanding into various aspects of label converting technologies along the value chain. Spread over one and a half day, two plenary and two parallel sessions, 23 expert speakers will share their expertise on an array of topics. All designed to give an update on the latest status with regards to legislation, materials science, converting technology and innovation.

Redefining Printing- A Discussion with World Leaders!

For the very first time in the country, All India Federation of Master Printers (AIFMP) hosted the World Print & Communication Forum (WPCF) Conference & board meeting on the side-lines of Pamex 2020. The WPCF conference was held at the Ballroom of Westin Garden City, Mumbai on 8 January 2020. The Theme of the conference was Redefining Printing- a Discussion with World Leaders and had speakers from USA, Belgium, South Africa, Japan, China & India. The one-day event saw more than 150 delegates coming from across the world. The conference was divided into two technical sessions and both were moderated by Prof. Dr. Rajendrakumar Anayath, VC Deenbandhu Cho Ram University of Science and Technology.

The inaugural session of the conference was held by Prof. Kamal Chopra, Chairman Pamex. He was joined by Mr. Raveendra Joshi, Chairman Organizing Committee- WPCF, Mr. Dibyajoyti Kalita, President AIFMP and Prof. Dr. Rajendrakumar Anayath. They set the tone of the conference and explained what the delegates were in store for the day.

Cosmo Films reports 171 percent increase in Q3 FY20

Cosmo Films Limited, a global leader in films for packaging, labeling & lamination applications and synthetic paper today declared its financial results for the quarter ended December, 2019. Q3 FY20 net revenue increased by 4 percent on YOY basis backed by a better product mix and higher volumes. The improved performance is on account of higher sales of speciality films and strong operating margin on BOPP films (due to balanced demand supply scenario). Last year results included Rs. 8 crores of profit on sale of assets in US subsidiary following the relocation of plant.

Commenting on the financial performance of the company Mr. Pankaj Poddar, CEO, Cosmo Films Ltd. said, “We have had one of the best quarterly results with a significant contribution coming from sales of newly developed products. The company’s R&D has done successful trials for in house manufacturing of certain masterbatches and coating chemicals as a part of backward integration/maintaining secrecy as well as diversification into new related business.

The future of label printing - drupa is even more important than you think : Isidore Leiser

When I think about drupa, I think about it as the World Cup of Printing.  The World Cup too happens every four years – but contrary to drupa my own country is usually not a qualifier there. People told me when I first joined the printing industry “don’t go there, it’s too big, you’ll get lost”, or “don’t go there, it’s not focused enough on your business”. Since my first drupa visit, I can’t wait to visit again and I certainly won’t miss it in 2020.

Yes, it’s true that drupa is huge and I did get lost there more than once. Yes, it’s not just focused on labels-printing, but to attend the biggest print show in the world gives me an overview of the complete printing market, the latest innovations and the trends that we can expect in future years. The different printing sectors within the industry are related and some trends that occur now in one category will also evolve in another. For example, inkjet technology was first introduced for wide- format applications but it is now playing a major role in label-printing. To gain knowledge about competing printing processes at drupa gives me more insight and adds new perspectives to my own business.

So, what can we expect from the next drupa in 2020? First and foremost – innovation!  Printing, including packaging, is under intense pressure to transform itself. Brand owners are upping the pace and have new, different requirements. The industry is more competitive than ever and innovation is what our clients – brand owners – are looking for.

South India’s leading show on Commercial Printing, Package Converting and Digital Signs is back to Hyderabad

There has been a revolutionary change in the last few years in the printing industry in India. Growing at a rate of 12% per annum, the Indian Printing Industry comprises more than 250,000 big, small and medium printers. It is slowly progressing from the heavy machinery using industry to a more software-centric business. The advent of global brands, rising consumerism and growth of the pharmaceutical industry have seen an increase in the scope for package printing. By 2025, India is expected to become the fifth largest consumer market in the world, according to CII. The inception of new technologies along with a rise in e-commerce, changing lifestyles, urbanisation and increased personal health awareness has boosted the growth of the print and packaging markets. Amid this scenario, PrintFair is setting up a business and networking platform for the industry to help showcase all that is innovative and ground-breaking. The event is happening, concurrently with PackPlus South, from 20-21-22 March, at Hitex, Hyderabad.

“Every year PrintFair is setting a new benchmark with more exhibitors, more visitors, new technologies, machines and products on display. The overwhelming response from exhibitors and visitors has always encouraged us to improve the experience of our customers by offering a variety of facilities and tools to make sure that they make the most of their participation.” said Prateek Kaushik, Portfolio Director, Next Events Pvt. Ltd. (A member of Reed Exhibitions & a part of RELX Group).

UFlex closes a quarter of innovations, milestones and progress, with multiple product launches

India’s largest multinational flexible packaging company and a global player in polymer sciences, Uflex has declared its earnings for the quarter ended 31 December 2019 on 13 February. Its consolidated net profit was up 56.7% YOY at Rs 84.6-crore.

Reinforcing the efforts by the company towards sustainability, Ashok Chaturvedi, Chairman & Managing Director, UFlex Ltd. said, “The industry led by UFlex has got together to form Multi-Layer Plastics Films Sanitation Trust (MLPFST) that is partnering with State Governments to set up municipal solid waste sorting and segregation plant that will separate the plastic recoverable from mixed garbage via automated technology and recycle MLP waste into granules for making various plastic items including buckets, mugs, flower pots, outdoor furniture and many more.  MLPFST has started off this project with the set-up of a pilot plant in Bengaluru and another one to be established at a leading tourist destination in North India later. This step validates our efforts to lead our industry in changing the myth around plastic and ensure that plastic reaches the right stream for its recovery.”

Meanwhile, with an objective to promote sustainability, Uflex Chemicals Business launched three new products for the global markets that included, Flexseal Blister Coating, a water-based PUD used as heat-sealable paperboard overprint varnish for sealing PET or PVC blisters and fold-over packages; aqueous narrow web inks, especially created to replace solvent-based wide-web flexo inks for high-end food packaging applications and aqueous water resistant OPV for deep-freeze and food wrap application. 

MPS Systems Asia appoints Müller Korea as local agent in South Korea

Local representation for MPS flexo, hybrid and offset printing solutions in South Korea is now provided by Müller Korea. MPS Systems Asia, with headquarters in Malaysia, made the agreement with Müller Korea in the latter half of 2019.

Established in 1997, Müller Korea is located in central Seoul and is well connected to the label and packaging industry in addition to newspaper, book bindery and commercial printing. The company is also an agent for Muller Martini, a worldwide organization that manufactures, markets and services a full range of post-press finishing equipment.

NY Cho, Managing Director of Müller Korea explained the choice to partner with MPS: “In printing presses, our customers want superior quality and productivity, as well as flexibility in substrates – an essential strength to produce value-added labels.

“Awareness of state-of-the-art & eco-friendly printing equipment has increased, and Korean printers place a high importance on quality control. MPS presses have proven all these requirements and are designed to be extremely flexible and easy to operate. For us, it is the ideal partnership to meet our customer’s expectations.”

In addition to sales support, Müller Korea provides a strong service and engineering organization with a policy to visit customers onsite within two hours from the initial request.

Amcor opens new home care packaging site in India

Growing demand for Unilever’s laundry products in India has created a need for quality packaging, which Amcor will satisfy with a new manufacturing plant dedicated to the needs of the global consumer-goods giant. Amcor’s efficient new factory in Bharuch, Gujarat, in the Western region of India started operations this week after an official ceremonial event in October with executives from both companies.

As part of a seven-year agreement with Unilever signed in 2017, Amcor, the global packaging leader, made a substantial investment to build and equip the state-of-the-art Bharuch plant.

“Across all home-care categories, consumers in India are choosing products with packaging that provide them with the most convenience,” said Michael Zacka, president of Amcor Flexibles Asia Pacific, who attended the ceremony.