ElitePlus Global Summit: Panel Discussion on flexible packaging and rigid packaging

At the 12th Speciality Films & Flexible Packaging Global Summit & Exhibition 2025, Manish Mehta, vice chairman, Reifenhauser India, led a a focused conversation on making the business case for sustainability gathered converters, brand owners, material suppliers and machinery partners to confront the practical tensions between cost, capability and climate commitments. 

Dr Arup Basu, chief operating officer, Hubergroup opened by drawing a stark global picture: the daily production of plastic is vast, he said, likening it to a container the size of the hall. He said that plastic remains a material of extraordinary utility, but its sheer scale demands urgent attention to life-cycle management. He framed the debate as one less about demonising plastic than about improving how it is manufactured, designed and returned into productive use.

Manoj Bisht, chief marketing officer, Paharpur 3P, emphasised commercial pragmatism. He argued that India can convert global sourcing trends into opportunity: with the world pursuing a China-plus-one strategy, India has an opening to be a reliable local alternative. Paharpur has already commercialised a number of sustainable formats and developed monomaterial solutions for retort applications, but Bisht warned that replacing very high-barrier constructions remains technically and economically challenging. Cost cannot be the sole blocker, the industry must re-engineer materials and processes so that sustainable choices become cost-effective rather than premium.

Kunal Bajaj, director, Jupiter Group, framed the conversation through margins and demand. He noted that rising raw-material costs squeeze profitability and that converters must invest in new materials and machinery to stay competitive. He argued that flexible packaging’s growth trajectory is strong, global demand is growing at roughly 15% and many rigid formats are migrating to flexible constructions, and technologies such as digital printing and AI are raising customer expectations. The imperative, he said, is to increase efficiency while continuing to add value through innovation.

Sanjay Ghoshal, head of packaging, packaging sustainability & strategic productivity, Diageo India, brought a brand-owner perspective that married realism with partnership. Brand houses, he observed, stand between regulatory obligations and consumer price sensitivity, and they require solutions that are both technically sound and commercially viable. Ghoshal rejected an adversarial framing between brands and converters, instead he urged co-creation of frugal, smart solutions that do not unduly inflate shelf prices. He conceded that procurement realities such as reverse auctions are a feature of the market, but insisted there are ways to find middle ground so sustainability does not become a luxury.

Kangin Park, global marketing manager, Mitsui Chemicals, stressed the value of global collaboration. He said India’s packaging industry has room to raise quality but faces capital constraints and a nascent innovation culture. Park suggested that cross-border teaming between machinery suppliers, Indian film manufacturers and specialist coating providers could knit a cost-effective ecosystem. He urged participants to think in terms of complementary strengths rather than competition: a German line, an Indian film and a Japanese coating, for example, can combine to deliver a competitive, sustainable solution.

Alay Jhaveri, managing director & CEO, Jhaveri Flexo, spoke as a converter squeezed between client demands and operational limits. He warned that margins are tighter than before and that the economics of continually adopting multi-million-dollar technologies can be prohibitive for many firms. Converters can add value, he said, but there is a threshold beyond which continuous heavy capital outlay becomes destabilising. Jhaveri appealed for realistic expectations on technology adoption and for solutions that scale reasonably across the industry.

Vidur Kanoria, executive director, TCPL Packaging, summarised the commercial balance. He acknowledged that while sustainability is viable, it remains commercially challenging. The effective implementation of EPR has compelled players to collect and use recycled content, but the wider shift toward monomaterial designs is only beginning. India’s flexible-packaging sector now faces overcapacity pressures and needs scale to make investments pay. Kanoria urged firms to find the “fine line” between growth and profitable growth and noted that staying in the game long enough tends to uncover new industry adjacencies to explore.

Across the discussion several themes from standardisation and scale matter of monomaterial laminates to investment in R&D and selective capital expenditure came through. Finally, consumer education and policy clarity will shape demand and enable premium-priced sustainability to transition into mainstream practice.

The panel closed with a practical tone that sustainability is not an optional add-on but a strategic imperative, yet it will only become widespread if it preserves or enhances commercial viability.