FOREWORD
SK Ray
P
Senior Executive Vice President - Corporate Affairs Reliance Industries Ltd, Mumbai
lastics have transformed the world of materials. Products made from plastics cater to every segment of our economy, be it agriculture, housing, textile, healthcare, infrastructure, automobiles, appliances, aviation, electrical, electronics and households. No wonder, demand for plastics in the world has surpassed that of metal in volume terms and is still growing. In a developing country like India, its relevance is all the more significant.
Notwithstanding the impressive growth over past few decades, demand for plastics in India continues to be relatively small. It has recently crossed the 10 million tonnes mark and is growing at double digit rate. Per capita usage of plastics in India is abysmally low signalling huge untapped potential. Packaging is the largest end-use segments for plastics. Here it has gone beyond the simple function of ‘containment’ to ensuring safe and hygienic products, convenience and a major opportunity of branding and promotion. From bulk packaging of commodities to one time use for food, toiletries, cosmetics, and healthcare products, plastic products are omnipresent.
Plastics has recently crossed the 10 million tonnes mark and is growing at double digit rate. Per capita usage of plastics in India is abysmally low signalling huge untapped potential.
The size of Indian Packaging industry is more than US$ 25 billion in turnover and is growing at ~12 percent rate per annum. However, our per capita use of packaging is still only 4.3 kg as against Germany’s 42 kg and China’s 20 kg. Nearly 70 percent of packaging caters to food and beverage sector. This underscores the importance of packaging. Plastics material forms the largest segment of the packaging pie at 37 percent, followed by paper and paperboard at 34 percent.
Sustainability has become an important criterion in the pursuit of growth and development. It is an issue which specifically confronts the packaging sector in a paradoxically adverse manner. Often, at the designing stage itself, manufacturers today are ensuring that their packaging is recyclable, as consumers are live to its potential environmental footprints. Plastic is one of the most eco- friendly materials. These help in reducing weight and are easy to re-use and recycle. This brand new issue of ET polymers focuses on packaging and sustainability. It features articles on emerging trends in packaging; and adoption of sustainability as one of the business goals. Trust our readers would enjoy reading this issue. I would also like to welcome the new editor of ET Polymers, Mr Niranjan Mudholkar, and wish him all the very best.
Editorial Advisor
February-March 2014 | The Economic Times POLYMERS | 3
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