Alpesh Patel is the founder and managing director of Knack Packaging Pvt. Ltd. He established the company in 1993 and since then has been supervising and controlling all processes at the organisation. He also holds prominent roles in the industry as the Chairman of Plastic Export Promotion Council – Gujarat, Chairman of Indian Institute of Packaging – Ahmedabad and President of Poly Woven Association – Gujarat. He has been recognised with the Rashtriya Udhyog Ratna Award in Council for Economic Growth and Research for “Excellence in their respective field” in 2011. His philosophy is to keep learning, improving and growing.

What are the various types of cement packaging bags made by your company? Tell us more about the composition of the most used packaging material for cement?
There are three types of bags and the fourth is the new renovation. The first type of bag is a PP unlaminated bag, the second type is PP laminated coated bag and third type is BOPP laminated bag with block bottom. The issue with the PP unlaminated bags is that cement comes out of it often since it has a wall and due to which it also creates dust. The fourth quality of cement bag is a new product, known as pinch bottom bag. These are one of the world’s finest quality bags. It looks like a brick but the system of packing it is the same as the wall bag packing system. It does not have any leakages and is considered to be the best. I personally think that the third quality bags, BOPP laminated bags with block bottom are also great. They serve 98 per cent of what the pinch bags can do. Since during their packaging their mouth is open, that leaves little chance of leakage and that’s why they are just close to perfect.

What is the volume of cement packaging manufactured and consumed by cement companies in India?
I’ll tell you three things. We are producing 700,000 bags per day of which 150,000 bags per day are supplied to the cement industry on an everyday basis. This is a big question to answer but according to me, yearly about 60 to 70 crore bags are consumed by the cement industry. From these crores of bags, Knack Packaging supplies about 3 to 4 crores of bags to the manufacturers of cement.

Tell us more about the technology of manufacturing the bags used for cement packaging?
We use polypropylene (PP) granules to make the fabric of the cement packaging bags. These granules are selected on the basis of the type of bags that are to be made. This also falls under the textile industry since the granules are converted to a fabric like material but made of PP. You can consider just how shirts are made from a fabric, similarly, cement packaging bags are made from granule fabric.
We have the infrastructure to create the every size and type of cement packaging bags required by our customers.

How well are these bags equipped to protect cement?
When cement is packed in unlaminated bags, it causes a lot of dust and wastage on the packaging floor, while loading it and wherever it is stored. Even when these bags are carried to the place of construction, there is a certain amount of leakage. This happens due to the pressure with which cement is packed in these bags. Because of the coating on coated bags, cement comes out or is wasted only from the top and bottom where the bag is sealed off. In the third type of bags, the BOPP laminated bags, the wastage is significantly reduced. The material for the bags used is the same so it isn’t harming the environment. Since these bags have three layers, it not only prevents wastage, it also allows major branding.

What alternative materials are used to make cement packaging more eco-friendly?
PP unlaminated bags are made from PP granules. Then the coating on these bags is done with a material in the same family as that of PP. The BOPP print, in the third layer of the bags is also done from a material in the same family as PP. Various quality bags are made with layering of these materials. These materials are very easily recyclable and cause almost no harm to the environment. The bags can be reused as well, thus, reducing the wastage that may occur due to discarding one time use bags. These combinations are used with colour combinations to distinguish between bags.

What is the wastage that occurs in cement packaging? What is its volume?
According to the industry standard, there is only 2 to 3 per cent wastage in the manufacturing of cement packaging bags. This can also be greatly reduced by increasing the production efficiency in making the bags. However, this is the minimum amount of wastage in the industry possible.

Tell us more about the efforts taken to reduce the wastage in cement packaging?
Our industry has taken the initiative of recycling the waste that occurs during the production of cement packaging. Those 2 or 3 per cent of waste material is turned into granules and used again to make cement packaging fabric. This makes our wastage zero.
This is an initiative taken only by us at the moment and as the chairman of the Indian Institute of Packaging, I request all packaging makers to make this effort to leave the world a better place for the next generation. As leaders in the industry, it becomes our responsibility to lead the way of making this small effort to reduce the wastage in a big volume. Reprocess and reuse for a better tomorrow.

How can cement packaging be made more eco-friendly and contribute towards the betterment of the environment?
Cement packaging can be made much better, safer for the environment and supportive of the circular economy by developing ‘Reprocessing Plants’.
I have taken the effort to install these plants in all my group companies and have helped my fellow entrepreneurs and friends set up the same in their plants to make a difference for the environment. There are many internal processes that have wastage, that itself can be reprocessed and granulated and can be used to make the fabric of the next batch of packaging material or can be sold out where it can be used.

What are the innovations expected in the future for cement packaging?
There are some changes that will be seen in the packaging in the near future.
One would be small packaging of cement, i.e., 10 kg and 25 kg against the 50 kilo bags that are largely available in the current times. Bulk packaging would be avoided in the near future. The other would-be green packaging. This would mean 100 per cent biodegradable bags. And as we have also begun manufacturing pinch bottom bags, they are going to be big in the coming years. What I would like to add with this interview is value to the cement industry and a message to everyone in the cement industry and the cement packaging industry is to collect the cement bags back instead of putting them in waste. These used bags can be used in the kilns as fuel to be burned and create heat. This can save natural resources and thus result in reduction of natural disasters. Cement industry can be a large contributor to the protection of the environment and small steps like these can make a big difference for the future.

Kanika Mathur