India Focuses on Safe Food-Grade Recycled Polypropylene Packaging at PPRDC Summit

PPRDC Data on Safe Food-Grade Packaging from Recycled Polypropylene

Image Credits: PPRDC

The 6th Plastic Packaging Research and Development Centre (PPRDC) Summit, which was organized in New Delhi, aligned all the policymakers, market leaders, and experts to careful on the upcoming times of food-grade recycled resources in India. Senior legislatures from FSSAI, Department of Chemicals & Petrochemicals, Nestlé India Limited, BIS, Reliance Industries Limited, PepsiCo India Holdings Pvt. Ltd., Jubilant FoodWorks Limited, Coco-Cola India, Tops, Mars India, and UFlex Limited, among several others, came aligned to share visions, address hindrances, and align on the way forward.

Joint Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals, Government of India, Deepak Mishra, expressed, “As a regulatory authority, we recognise the significant progress the industry has made in enhancing recycling capacities, particularly for PET, to align with the objectives of the EPR framework. The recent policy facilitation, including exemptions in cases of technical non-feasibility, has been introduced to support a balanced and pragmatic transition. However, it is equally important for the industry to proactively advance standards and processes for recycling other materials like PE and PP. I commend PPRDC for organising yet another constructive platform to address these crucial issues. Collaborative efforts between policymakers, recyclers, and industry stakeholders are vital for achieving our national sustainability commitments and contributing meaningfully to global environmental goals.”

The conference also noticed the official launch of a research report titled “Recycling of Post-Consumer Food-grade Polypropylene (PPs) Waste: Sustainable Valorization of Recycled PP Material”, established by PPRDC. Polypropylene (PP), in spite of being the second-most extensively produced plastic worldwide, realizes a miserably low recycling rate of around 3–5%. The report shows a comprehensive resolution, using progressive multi-point refinement and double-filtration skills to safely integrate nearly 60% post-consumer recycled polypropylene (PP) into the essential coating of multi-layered flexible packing for food contact resources (FCMs), without compromising the safety of the food products or packaging performance. The conference contained strong discussions on supervisory evolution, EPR execution, and the important role of progressive recycling technologies in altering India’s plastic packaging market into a circular and sustainable model.