Industry and Government Leaders Explore Future of Packaging at the 6th IIP International Summit
Industry leaders, technology experts, policymakers, and sustainability advocates recently gathered at the 6th International Summit for the Packaging Industry, organized by the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), to discuss the future of packaging under the theme ‘Packaging 5S–AI’. The summit brought together stakeholders from across the packaging value chain to deliberate on innovation, sustainability, and the growing role of emerging technologies in shaping next-generation packaging solutions.
Delivering a keynote address at the summit, Jeevaraj Pillai, whole-time director, president – flexible packaging and new product development, and director – sustainability at UFlex, spoke about the evolving role of packaging in supporting sustainability and enabling a circular economy.
Highlighting the importance of responsible innovation, Pillai emphasized that the future of packaging lies in developing materials and solutions that promote circularity while continuing to meet essential functional requirements such as product protection, safety, and shelf life. He noted that packaging innovation must move beyond incremental improvements and instead focus on creating structures that are compatible with existing recycling systems.
Reinforcing the industry’s progress in this direction, Pillai remarked, “Whatever is extrudable is recyclable,” explaining that materials capable of being reprocessed through extrusion can be recycled into films and other packaging products. According to him, this principle plays a key role in advancing circularity in flexible packaging, where materials must be designed not only for performance but also for recyclability.
Pillai also stressed the need for stronger collaboration across the packaging ecosystem—from material producers and converters to brand owners and policymakers—to accelerate the adoption of sustainable packaging solutions that reduce waste while enabling efficient resource use.
The summit’s theme, ‘Packaging 5S–AI’, focused on advancing packaging systems that are Safe, Secure, Standardized, Smart, and Sustainable, while also exploring the potential of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) in addressing evolving sustainability challenges and regulatory expectations within the industry.
