2nd Roundtable - Brand Owner’s Meet
PPRDC took the Initiative to develop a suitable test method to estimate rPET content in PET products
In pursuit of providing knowledge & technology support to the industry, Plastic Packaging Research and Development Centre (PPRDC) has organized a one-day technology round-table discussion on the 17 th of May, 2023 at the Taj Mahal Hotel, Man Singh Road, New Delhi.
PPRDC Advisory Council Members and invited experts interacted with participants. Discussions were mainly related to environmental issues due to irresponsible disposal of plastic waste. Participation of the organized sector in plastic waste management and Brand-owner’s challenges to comply EPR. Decoding the EPR guidelines. Development of sustainable packaging to support BO. Solving plastic packaging waste management through the development of technology based on enzymatic degradation of MLP. Development of recycled PET and PE and assessment of recycled material content in recycled products were also discussed.
Dr. Anup Ghosh, Emeritus Professor, Department of Material Sciences & Engineering from IIT Delhi, explained the method of determination and estimation of rPET content in packaging materials. In the evaluation of material sustainability, the recommended technique is UV-Vis spectroscopy. This technique can be used as a tool to develop the first National Standard, operating procedure and/or audit scheme that assesses/regulates the recycled content of PCR plastics and has the power to drive the change to create a true circular economy, he explained.
During an eminent gathering, Mr. Jeevaraj Pillai, Trustee-PPRDC, concisely explained the challenges of using rPET in flexible packaging in compliance to EPR guidelines. Also, “Recycling Process of Post-consumer PET Bottle Waste” was discussed. Approximately 125,000 MT of Flexible Packaging consumed per month. Out of this quantity PET based MLP have a large share in the market. Immediate substitution is out of bound.
During the Roundtable meet, the Study Report on “Estimation of Mechanically Recycled rPET content in PET product and recycling process of post-consumer PET-bottle waste and its application in flexible packaging” and “Recycling Process of PCW-PET Bottle Waste & ITS applications in Flexible Packaging” published by PPRDC was released by Mr. Apoorvshree Chaturvedi, Director- EU Operations & Sustainability, UFlex Group.
Members from Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals (DCPC) and Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS), National Standard body of India, were also present to share their views/ideas in this common knowledge sharing platform. Brand Owners were also attended the meet as. The two reports made available to the packaging industry to support the philosophy of EPR and Circular Economy.