PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2020

BOTTLE MAKING 16 PET planet Insider Vol. 21 No. 03/20 www.petpla.net Indian PET packaging industry – Reliance’s role in its growth journey & beyond From PET manufacturer to expert adviser The move to PET packaging in India began in the mid 80’s, with the introduction of PET packs for household containers (bottles and jars) and edible oil (EO). In a departure from conventional use, PET packaging in India started with PET jars/kitchen wares, filled with spices, pickles, edible oil etc, which kept the market ticking over. Fast forward to today and all the milk variants (fresh, flavoured, UHT, Chaas, Lassi) are packaged in PET by Amul and other milk majors. Reliance Industries Ltd., September 2019 We met: Vishal Mall, Vice President PET Business - Export Market, Atanu Biswas, Vice President PET Business - Domestic Market Rajesh K Gera, Asst. Vice President PET Business - Business Develop- ment & Sustainability It is heartening to note that, last year (2018/19), India’s PET market consumption crossed one million tonnes for the first time. This total, which is 13% up on the previous year, includes PET bottles, thermoformed APET containers, PET strapping, injection moulded items, and PET masterbatches and monofilaments. In the recent past, the Indian market saw single-digit growth; it is projected to grow 8-10% annually in the coming years. With a market share of 45%, Reliance is the major player in India’s PET sector. The balance is accounted for by other Indian manufacturers and imports. Reliance believes in total coopera- tion and support to PET processors and brand-owners to grow the domes- tic market. It endeavours to provide technical services, including inputs for processing, and also supports product and market development to acceler- ate the in-organic growth of potential Indian markets. Reliance has always been com- mitted in making continuous efforts to launch new products in addition to supplying a consistent quality product. “Value-positioning is today shift- ing more capacity in PET and giving opportunity for non-cola beverages, promoted on health and wellness platforms. This has resulted in the introduction of variants of fruit drinks, flavoured water, nimboo pani and other beverages packaged in PET”, said Rajesh Gera in describing Reli- ance’s role in the in-roads made by PET packaging and its continued success with Indian end-users. “The CSD majors are also working on the eco-system. We work pro-actively with brand-owners and converters to bring in niche ideas for PET packaging and undertake match-making, to speed-up launch of new products in PET. The development of special PET resins to enhance the shelf life of food and bev- erage products is one such example.“ The Indian consumer market is moving from ‘class to mass’, he explained, which has led to a boom in PET demand. “The big cola majors have launched CSD in 250ml PET bottles in India. There is a growing interest from regional majors across India in small size PET packs, for launching CSD in smaller packs sizes up to 250ml.” Water, CSD and juice products account for more than 55% of all PET bottles used in India. From a raw material manufacturer’s point of view, the main trends here are in develop- ing new applications and broad-bas- ing current packages to new locations in the country, along with supporting material savings. Country Liquor in PET is another uniquely Indian application sup- ported by the RIL team. The majority of states currently use PET bottles ranging in size from 90ml to 750ml, which helps to achieve overall savings to end users. Shatter-proof, economi- cal packaging options are the buzz words today for PET in the liquor seg- ment. There is a further opportunity to save SCM cost by shrink-sleeving filled PET bottles. In the IMFL sector, PET bottles are used extensively; the trend is a further shift to PET, for more liquor variants. The use of PET in liquor has led to the emergence of niche shapes and visual effects; 1 l frosted PET bottles for vodka and 2 l bottles with externally fitted handle for whisky were both developed by UB group. The adoption of PET packag- ing has led to an enhanced product appeal and increased sales for these liquor variants. The edible oil (EO) market has good growth potential for PET, as it is now increasingly being used for large 5 l containers and replacing tradi- tional HDPE and tin packs. One EO Tour Sponsors: “Value-positioning is today shifting more capacity in PET” states Rajesh Gera, Asst. Vice President PET Business