In October, Packaging South Asia hosted Rick Michelman, president and CEO of Michelman,a developer and manufacturer of advanced materials for coatings, printing and packaging, fibers and composites, and agricultural markets. Michelman was in India to speak at ElitePlus Mumbai, where he presented on the role of coatings in achieving sustainable packaging design.
At the conference and in an interaction with the PSA team at its Noida office, Michelman discussed a range of topics, including multiple paths taken to produce recyclable packaging, compostable end-of-life requirements, alternative packaging solutions enabled by bio-based coatings, and how collaboration can accelerate the pace of innovation and allow companies to pivot quickly to meet new market needs.
At Elite, Michelman explained how multi-functional coatings for paper, film and foil can help eliminate the need for complex, costly and unrecyclable multi-layer structures, making it possible to create recyclable, repulpable, and industrially compostable packaging using homogenous mono-material structures.
His presentation included the Michelman Innovation Center for Coatings (MICC), located at Michelman’s Mumbai offices – designed to serve the needs of India and its surrounding markets.
In the interaction with the PSA team, Michelman elucidated three motivations for change in India’s packaging sector – existing legislation, demands from brands, and the desire of Indians to see sustainable practices.
“It’s great to be here in India. I always enjoy coming because the people are wonderful, the food is really good, and the business is also very fun to interact with and think about how we change the world,” he said.
Michelman explained how multi-functional coatings for paper, film and foil can help eliminate the need for complex, costly and unrecyclable multi-layer structures. Photo PSA“There are three reasons I’m here. Number one is for the specialty packaging conference, which is always fun, exciting, and a great way to meet people. The focus is clearly on flexible packaging, but there are a lot of other conversations that occur. The talks were deep and inspiring.”
Reason number two, as he explained, was that brands are asking for change. “While they don’t always live up to every promise they make, they want to see change happen. And we, again, are in a good position together with the Indian industry to make that change occur.”
According to Michelman, who is celebrating his company’s 75th anniversary, the most important reason is that the Indian people want to see change. He said they believe packaging and sustainable packaging can have an incredibly positive impact on India and Indian society. “Recycling can be done. They believe recycling can be done. They believe it’s a major motivator for change in the Indian marketplace.”
More than 90% of Indian consumers believe companies are in the best position to make change and make the environment better, he said. “That’s all of us.”
“So, part of my reason for being here is to begin to work on that in a much, much more emphasized manner. We’ve sold for packaging in India for over 30 years, either for corrugated boxes or digital printing, and now for flexible packaging. And together, as we help companies transition from films to monolayer materials or from films to paper, we’re in a position to lead – to make a radical and positive change,” Michelman concluded.
