What did we learn in Amsterdam about smart packaging and sustainability? We learned that technology is the connection between brand protection, authentication, supply chain management, customer engagement and sustainability. As AIPIA’s managing director, Eef de Ferrante, said in his welcome address, “There is so much more to Smart Packaging than a role in sustainability,” Although this was evident by the leading edge smart technologies exhibited and presented, de Ferrante asserted several times during the two days, that one can keep hoping that culture and habits will improve somehow – and that someday sustainability and transparency will arrive – but the real and more realistic answer is technology! While introducing Angela Morgan of Aptar as she was making a presentation on food waste technologies, he again asserted, “The solution to food waste is technology.”
Thus, ultimately this is what PACK.Nxt in Mumbai must be about. We can debate and discuss the problems of the counterfeiting of products and the challenges of collecting, sorting and recycling waste forever. The solution, however, is technology and this is what the conference is for. It is for untangling and demystifying the Plastic Waste Management rules of the government and the latest revisions to Extended User Responsibly regulations suggested on 16 October 2023.
This will be done by several brand owners and one of the leading technologists in the country from a company that has taken this challenge seriously across several continents. As the managing director of that company says, “Sustainability is not just the new structure or redesign of a single consumer pack, it is an eco-system and much more.”
New structures and designs that incorporate recyclates will be discussed. Among our partners in this area are GLS Films, a producer of sustainable and recyclable flexible packaging and materials and Banyan Nation, a technology-driven pioneer in plastic recycling, whose co-founder and CEO will speak and take part in a couple of sessions.
On the active and intelligent side, we will present actionable solutions and Indian case studies of anti-counterfeit and customer engagement, which can, among other things, lead to packaging reaching the correct waste stream. Presented for discussion will be a scorecard for the various types of packaging structures rated for their collection in the country and their level of recycling capability.
For PACK.Nxt, there are several returning sponsors from our previous Smart Packaging events such as Avery Dennison, Fasciculus, Uflex, and new sponsors such as the pioneering Indian plastic waste recycler Banyan Nation, Shriram Veritech in brand protection, and the GLS Group, a leading upcoming packaging conglomerate in flexible and liquid packaging, which is also a producer of film and aluminum foil. Monotech’s Tracesci and Kurz are also supporters and several others are likely to commit in the coming days by the time this reaches you in print.
Knowledge and technology to take home and act on
PACK.Nxt is a full-day smart, active, and sustainable packaging in-person event that will address the themes of brand protection, authentication, anti-counterfeiting, and supply chain efficiencies, especially in food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, and retail. Approximately 30 speakers and participants from leading brands such as Marico, Indo Nissin, Polycab India, Bayer Consumer Health Care, Ajanta Pharma, PepsiCo AMESA, Reliance Retail, Lupin, Sun Pharma, Mankind Pharma, AMARAI, ITC, Pureplay Skin Sciences, Emami, Too Yum Foods, and Britannia have already committed to taking part.
Numerous packaging converters and services suppliers, who incorporate advanced authentication and supply technologies in their work for global customers in the food, FMCG, pharmaceutical, and retail industries, are confirmed speakers and participants. Amsterdam-based AIPIA and ASPA are among the association partners for the event.
Andrew Manly, communications director of AIPIA, says, “We are very excited at the prospect of bringing PACK.nxt to India. The country and the region are hungry for knowledge about Smart Packaging technologies and we expect huge interest from brands, supply chain actors, and technology providers. We are delighted to be working with two of the most experienced organizers in the market, including IppStar, which has organized more than 40 knowledge events across the country for the print and packaging sector in which it has more than 40 years of experience.”
We are hoping to create another interactive and lively event that the IppGroup and IppStar are known for. Narendra Paruchuri once described these as, “Nuts and bolts events.” Another frequent participant in our early days Pranav Parikh described them as, “Conferences with take home value.” We look forward to meeting the industry leaders at the event – especially those who see that the future is an opportunity for those who can make technology decisions in the here and now.
