At the curtain raiser event for Bharat Packaging Expo held at the Indian Institute of Packaging (IIP), New Delhi, Jatin Takkar, head – brand owner collaboration, Siegwerk India, urged the packaging industry to broaden its sustainability conversations beyond recyclability and circularity to include an equally critical but often overlooked aspect – safety. His presentation served as a timely reminder that while recyclability and circularity remain vital sustainability goals, consumer safety must remain at the center of packaging innovation.

Delivering a presentation titled ‘Beyond Recyclable: Why Safety is the Missing Half of Circular Packaging,’ Takkar argued that while the industry has made significant progress in developing recyclable packaging solutions, insufficient attention is being paid to the safety implications of these transitions.

Opening his address, Takkar noted that sustainability has become a recurring theme across industry discussions. “When you talk about sustainability, there is an element of safety that is right now missing in all the discussions that we have,” he said. “That is something that will be the focus of my presentation today.”

Turning to the sustainability debate, Takkar observed that for nearly a decade the packaging industry has been preoccupied with a single question: “Is it recyclable?” While this focus has driven significant innovation, he believes an equally important question is often ignored.

“What we don’t ask normally is, ‘Is it still safe?’” he remarked.

According to Takkar, the industry’s push toward recyclable packaging has resulted in substantial structural changes. These include the shift from multi-layer to mono-material structures, transitions from plastic to paper-based packaging, and efforts to reduce material thickness through downgauging. While these developments support circular economy goals, he cautioned that they may also alter the protective properties of packaging.

“We are creating new structures, we are moving from multi-layered material to monolayer material, we are moving from plastic to paper, we are downgauging plastics, so we are making so many changes,” he said. “But we don’t ask whether it is really safe also.”

At the same time, Takkar acknowledged the remarkable progress made across the packaging value chain. He credited converters, brand owners and material suppliers for accelerating the adoption of recyclable packaging solutions.

“A big applaud goes to the entire industry,” he said. “We have made strong transitions towards mono-materials and recyclable structures. Reuse models have been established in certain packaging segments, and we have seen the development of barrier films and barrier coatings that emerged in response to market needs. We are also increasingly seeing the use of recycled content in packaging.” However, he warned that these advancements come with hidden trade-offs that deserve closer scrutiny.

One area of concern, according to Takkar, is the role of packaging chemicals such as inks, coatings, varnishes and adhesives. While discussions around recyclability often focus on barrier properties such as oxygen transmission rate (OTR) and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR), little attention is paid to how these chemicals behave in newly designed packaging structures. “There are certain chemicals on every packaging structure,” he explained. “One thing which no one is asking is, what about these chemicals?”

Takkar stressed that packaging’s primary function remains the protection of products and consumers. As packaging structures evolve, the industry must assess whether chemical migration risks are changing as well.

“If there was a 12-micron PET and I have cut it down to six microns, or I have removed a layer, are chemicals still not migrating into my food, cosmetics or pharma drugs?” he asked. “These are questions we need to address.”

The issue becomes even more relevant as the industry embraces recycled content. Takkar referenced work by the European Printing Ink Association (EuPIA), which has raised concerns regarding the quality and safety of recycled materials, particularly when printed or coated substrates undergo mechanical recycling.

“EuPIA has clearly stated that when you go for mechanical recycling, ink chemicals can deteriorate into substances with unknown toxicological profiles, or sometimes transform into chemicals that are not yet understood by science,” he said.

Such developments, he suggested, highlight the importance of assessing recycled-content packaging not only from a circularity perspective but also from a safety standpoint.

Another concern raised during the presentation was the presence of CMR (Carcinogenic, Mutagenic and Reprotoxic) substances in packaging materials. Takkar pointed out that while European regulations explicitly restrict the use of such substances in printing inks, India’s regulatory framework lacks similar clarity.

“Unfortunately, in India, none of the packaging regulations explicitly ban carcinogenic chemicals,” he noted. “Packaging needs to be food grade, but who is going to define that? Not everyone is on the same page.”

He further highlighted risks associated with emerging contaminants generated during recycling processes, as well as assumptions surrounding multilayer structures containing recycled content. According to Takkar, the common belief that recycled materials can safely be sandwiched between virgin layers should not be accepted without scientific validation.

“It may look logical that you have virgin layers in contact with food and recycled material inside, but those recycled materials can still penetrate through those virgin layers,” he said. “All this needs to be validated.”

For Takkar, safety compliance should not be viewed as a barrier to sustainability. Rather, it should be considered an essential enabler of a truly circular economy. “One of my key messages is that safety compliance isn’t a precondition to circularity; it is the guardrail that makes circularity trustworthy,” he said.

He cautioned that if safety considerations are overlooked, the industry could face unintended consequences in the future. “If we do it, let’s do it in the right way,” he added.

Concluding his presentation, Takkar left the audience with a simple but powerful message that encapsulated the essence of his argument.

“The next time someone asks, ‘Is it recyclable?’,” he said, “do ask back, ‘Is it still safe?’”