India Cement Review took an exclusive interview with Shashi Garg, Business Head, Cement Packaging business at Uflex Ltd. about the entire Cement packaging scenario, the ??ain points??that generally intrigue manufacturers, and their ground-breaking solutions.

What is the best advantage of Uflex packaging to Cement customers?

Owing to the full backward integration into films (BOPP, Metalized and others), Chemicals (Inks, Coatings, Adhesives), Engineering (Converting & Packing Equipments), Holography (Films, Labels) and Cylinders (Electronic, Laser and even base-shell manufacturing), UFlex has an exclusive advantage to deliver customized solutions to customers. We provide end-to-end packaging support to our customers starting from design to delivery.

Uflex BOPP film, unlike other packaging films, is an innovation in itself. With their diverse and enormous features like transparent & matte, heat-sealable and non-sealable, direct embossible, superior ink adhesion, anti-skid, high barrier, cold release or direct extrusion coatable films, Uflex is able to make revolutionary BOPP bags.

Explain the role played by packaging of a product in brand building. How you have beenhelping the consumer industry in building a brand through packaging?

The primary objective of Uflex is to deliver our customers with a unique packaging experience. I think, that is only possible when they are able to observe and analyse themselves what difference packaging can bring them, in terms of market positioning, and product pricing. Packaging is one of the primary mediums in which suppliers communicate with their end consumers. In the Indian mind-set, an attractive packaging always influences the buyer decision. We always design our packaging keeping this in mind, and ensure that the dimensions have the largest branding exposure. With our high-end technologies, we are able to create a virtual reality in form of packaging bags, and we always encourage our customers, to take the most added benefits out of our technology and services. Our packaging is the face of any product.

Give us a brief idea about your association with cement industry. With what products you started and what are new products added in your bouquet?

Uflex began its venture into the Cement industry around seven years back with our fresh and new-born BOPP bags. We were the pioneers in BOPP and the journey has not been very smooth. The market was different then. Customers were limated to using the common and inferior PP sacks. Branding in cement bags was not commonly accepted. It took us quite some time to educate customers about the unchallenged benefits of BOPP bags, and the need for branding on packaging. However, in only a couple of years, our bags were a great success and were loved by our customers across the nation. We started with standard BOPP bags, and presently, our bags are available in glossy and matte variants, they are UV- protected, have a high co-efficient of friction for easy stacking, and our most recent launch have been the shower-proof bags to save any of our customer?? losses due to unwanted weather conditions.

Provide us some information on these Shower Proof bags. Are you in a position to supply this product? What is the advantage of using Showerproof bags?

Moisture ingression and product wastage has been a long-discussed concern with our customers that involved saving the products from random showers, and also moisture seepage at coastal regions. Products with comparatively slower consumption, stacked at the bottom rows are generally damaged at depot locations leading to entire product loss. Also the supply chain of Cement and Construction industry is exposed to severe mishandling concerns including uncontrolled exposure to weather conditions. Keeping this in mind, we designed very special shower proof bags which can be converted to complete airtight and moisture proof bags by debarring any chance of external air and moisture seepage into the bags. The bags are allowed with limited passage to release the air captured in the bags at the time of filling.

What is Uflex doing to handle the sustainability concerns of customers? Are your products eco-friendly?

UFlex believes in Environmental Sustainability and has taken several key initiatives in India towards reducing Carbon Foot Print and Improving Productivity. UFlex has constantly invested in newer technologies which consume less energy per Ton of Flexible Packaging. All in-house wastages are recycled and ploughed back in to the life cycle to reduce pressure on landfills thereby arresting pollution.

Our six prolonged sustainability initiative focuses on :

• Lowering Carbon Footprint

• Using Renewable Resources in Manufacturing

• Recycling Wastages

• Energy Efficient Production Technologies

• Reducing Plastic consumption

• Encouraging Green Polymers

What is Project Plastic Fix ?

UFlex Group has been a trendsetter when it comes to sustainable innovation and commitment towards the ??ircular Economy?? It was the ??irst company in the world to recycle mix plastic waste??for which it earned recognition at Davos Recycle Forum in 1995, way ahead of other companies from developed economies.

Our Project Plastic Fix is a mix of four innovative ways to create wealth from plastic waste:

Pyrolysis, Recycling, Biomass & Asclepius.

Recycling of plastic is the need of the hour. UFlex, India?? largest flexible packaging company recognized the need to recycle plastic waste more than two decades back and established recycling units in its plants that convert MLP Waste into Pellets. An added feature of the recycled material (pellets) is that it is re-used to manufacture industrial and household products like roads, outdoor furniture, paver tiles, ladders and many more such essential

items. Thus, UFlex is helping create a circular plastic economy by keeping plastic 'In the Economy' and 'Out of the Environment'.

Our Pyrolysis plant has also been setup at Noida, which is an upcoming resource recovery process that converts waste into energy helping environment clear the plastic waste. At its Noida Packaging plant, UFlex will be converting 6 tonnes of discarded waste material that??

generated every day from printing, unused trim, laminates, tubes and other unprocessed material into Liquid Fuel, Hydrocarbon Gas and Carbon Black.

Shashi Garg is a Chartered Accountant having 38 years of wide experience in Finance, Production and Marketing. He looks after overall packaging production, sales & marketing as Business Head of the Cement Packaging Division.

About UFlex: It is India?? largest flexible packaging company with headquarters and three manufacturing facilities in Noida, the National Capital Region of Delhi, supplies to a majority of customers in India and also to multinational companies across the globe. With a strong presence in North America, Europe, Africa, Hungary, Russia, South East Asia and the Middle East, UFlex has established itself as the largest flexible packaging manufacturer and exporter. UFlex has its manufacturing capacity of over 135000 TPA with plants is located in Noida and Jammu.