Storopack is a leading manufacturer and service provider in the fields of protective and transport packaging, as well as molded parts made of expanded foams. In a recent interview, Pavan Kumar, director at Storopack India, shares with The Packman how Storopack has been responding to the increasing demand for innovative technology in protective and transport packaging, and the company’s core belief in sustainability.
Mahan Hazarika: Please tell us about Storopack’s journey in India so far.
Pavan Kumar: Storopack in India started in 2012 while the operations commenced in the subsequent year. We have been growing since then along with our clients by offering them our sustainable protective packaging solution. The boom in the eCommerce business and our inception went hand in hand, supporting our growth in the market.
Mahan Hazarika: What are the strategic sectors that Storopack is focused in India?
Pavan Kumar: Protective packaging has a wide application across industries. Storopack, as of now, is more focused on resource conservation by eliminating transit damages and creating innovative solutions for manufacturing industries like engineering, automobile and modern retail. Due to an increase in the recent investment in organic cosmetics brands and their requirement for high-quality and sustainable protective packaging solutions, they have also become a good customer base for us.
Mahan Hazarika: How exciting is the protective packaging market in India? What are the growth pangs that may need to be addressed?
Pavan Kumar: The protective packaging market in India is in a very nascent stage. As a global organization, we have seen the growth in void filling and reduction in average box sizes – from large to small – as modern retail has developed in recent years in most of the developed markets including European and American markets. We are still in the ‘cushioning stage’ when it comes to protective packaging in India. Major contributors to the need for cushioning are still developing road conditions and the poorly managed logistics sector. The shift of thought process from buying impact transferring products to impact-absorbing products is needed. This makes our work pretty challenging when it comes to offering the right solutions to our clientele. Now this combined with the recent and ever-changing regulation surrounding the usage of plastics is making the market more complex, but at the same time encouraging us to innovate and bring to India first products like our bio-films.
Mahan Hazarika: What are Storopack’s recent innovations and what are their benefits?
Pavan Kumar: One of our vision statements includes ‘Innovation is focused on our core business.’ Storopack constantly innovates and improvises the core products which has always helped us bring value to our customers. Recently we have launched quite a variety of products like:
PAPERbubble: PAPERbubble offers customers an innovative and eco-friendly alternative to traditional air bubble film. The protective packaging made of paper, a renewable raw material, in combination with air is 100% recyclable and reliably protects small to medium-sized goods during shipping, reducing the use of primary raw materials and fossil resources.
PAPERplus TRACK: A paper-based, innovative, all-rounder product. It is like a one-stop solution for all the protective packaging requirements. Its applications cover cushioning, blocking and bracing and void filling. By restricting the movement inside the box, it also avoids any need for wrapping. Because of these applications, there are many direct and indirect benefits that Track brings.
AIRplus Bio: Another ground-breaking innovative product for the industries. This film is made from an industry compostable resin that can degenerate in the industry compost pits. Sustainable, eco-friendly and suits a variety of product categories.
rEPS: rEPS can be used to produce new protective packaging solutions – such as for household appliances or screens – that are made entirely from recycled material. As packaging often has a short useful life, it is imperative that it is collected and reused in an eco-friendly way. rEPS can be 100% reused to produce new protective packaging, thus closing the recycling loop.
Storopack always keeps the dynamic customer requirement in mind and tries to provide the best possible value to customers.
Mahan Hazarika: What kind of response are you getting from the market for these products?
Pavan Kumar: The response to the products is great. The industry is recognizing the importance of technologically advanced, sustainable, eco-friendly products. We are having a trial opportunity with quite a few organizations. We are confident of successful conversions. The journey has just started, and we have a great, growing Indian Market with all the incentives backed by government schemes and policies enabling industrial growth. The exciting times are yet to come. The more we are able to connect with the customers the more we are able to portray our capabilities.
Mahan Hazarika: What initiatives are being taken by Storopack as far as sustainability is concerned?
Pavan Kumar: We are an organization having sustainability in our core beliefs. Innovation goes hand in hand with sustainability in the design stage itself. The best part of our products is it is designed for JIT system from the start. Imagine the benefits our world would get if we can make coke at home by adding water to it. All the trucks transporting around 90% water can be avoided saving unimaginable eCo2 equivalent of pollutants. This is what we have been doing since the start when it comes to the protective packaging. All our products are concentrates which are processed only as per requirements at the end consumption point keeping a lot of trucks away from roads. Our one roll of APS void can eliminate a pickup-sized vehicle carrying conventional bubble wrap rolls. Our goal until 2025 is also about sustainability. Internal initiatives working hand in hand with the external initiatives clubbed with information sharing are helping us do so.
A few internal initiatives are: we follow the 3 R’s (Recycle. Reduce. Reuse); using energy-efficient machinery; eco-friendly packaging solutions; and sustainable resource-saving raw material. The external initiatives we are associated with are: Alliance to End Plastic Waste; Big Blue Ocean Cleanup; Operation Clean Sweep; and CEFLEX.
Mahan Hazarika: What according to you are the challenges in the overall ecosystem in the implementation of sustainable practices?
Pavan Kumar: Sustainability cannot be just a 1-person, 1-department, or 1-meeting agenda. It is a practice that every member of the organization, from the top to bottom, from every department needs to adapt to. The way we humans are polluting the only planet that we have, sustainability cannot be treated lightly. It is now or never for our generation. The biggest challenge when it comes to choosing greener products compared to the existing opportunity is the decision that the business owner has to take. Unless this switch in the minds of business owners is done, implementing sustainable practices will not be possible and will remain just a discussion topic at meetings.
Mahan Hazarika: What will remain a primary business challenge for you in 2022?
Pavan Kumar: To make the switch in the mindsets of business owners will remain the primary challenge that we will be facing. For the year 2022, I see more and more requirements from the start-ups and industries asking for a better and greener solution at even lower pricing than the existing products. Meeting all of their demands is going to give us tough times and navigating to the changes which are being done with the PWM rules.