CSIR-Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI), Mysuru, will host a two-day zonal seminar on the topic ‘Replacing single-use plastic by paper with emphasis on food packaging’, organised by the Indian Pulp and Paper Technical Association (IPPTA) here on Thursday and Friday.
Nearly 350 delegates, including paper technologists, engineers, scientists, and administrators, will attend the seminar. Technologists and engineers from India and abroad, machinery suppliers, and representatives from research institutions will present papers and deliberate on topics concerning progress made in replacing single-use plastic by paper, among others.
Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, scion of the erstwhile Mysuru royal family, will inaugurate the seminar at 9.15 a.m. on the CSIR-CFTRI campus on Thursday. P.N. Sridharr, DGM, Sustainable Products and Packaging, ITC Limited, PSPD, Secunderabad, will deliver the keynote address. Thalikerappa, MD, Bank Note Paper Mill India Pvt. Ltd., will be the guest of honour. On the occasion, IPPTA journal will be released besides the felicitation to some achievers.
CSIR-CFTRI drector Sridevi Annapurna Singh, IPPTA president Ganesh Bhadti, and honorary secretary general M.K. Goyal addressed the media on Wednesday to share details about the seminar and its objectives.
Paper mills have strongly desired to capture the space created by the restricted usage of plastics with the government of India announcing restriction on the single-use plastic. The paper industry has entered various segments such as paper bags, paper straws, and paper food packaging boxes that are biodegradable and made from renewable sources. By some rough estimates, the food packaging segment is as significant as 30% of the total packaging demand of the industry, according to IPPTA.
Creating an efficient barrier from the atmosphere to protect the food and improving strength is a severe challenge for the paper industry on developing paper alternatives to single-use plastic, the IPPTA said in a note.
The Food Packaging Technology Department at CSIR-CFTRI has been working on the thermal processing of foods, active and intelligent packaging, biodegradable packaging, safety evaluation of food packaging materials, and shelf-life analysis of foods. The department faculty undertakes sponsored projects from food industries and conducts R&D projects in food packaging. The department will play a key role in working on the alternatives.
Making use of the vast expertise, the IPPTA has joined hands with CSIR-CFTRI to work towards developing paper alternatives to single-use plastics. In this regard, they have jointly organised the seminar on the topic. Scientists from CSIR-CFTRI would dwell at length on statutory requirements, product requirements, paper specifications, and challenges ahead. On the other hand, paper industries will be discussing the initiatives and roadblocks faced by them towards realising their goals.
The seminar seeks the government’s initiative for strictly enforcing ban on single-use plastic and help in saving the environment. “Paper mills, CFTRI, and technology providers are required to join hands to bring alternatives to plastic with paper on an urgent basis,” the organisers said.
Rajeshwar S. Matche, chairman, programme committee, spoke about the role of CSIR-CFTRI towards achieving the objectives.
The inaugural event will be followed by panel discussions where the experts and resource persons will share their thoughts. Topics such as enhancing paper’s barrier properties for sustainable plastic alternatives; from plastic to paper: a sustainable revolution in food packaging; opportunities, and challenges will be discussed.