Venu Ayyar: How metal packaging can liven up sales

Let's flashback to 2020. Some of the issues that Indian tinplate packaging is facing, started with the government of India imposing an anti-dumping duty on tinplate and tin free steel four years ago. This came at a time when the demand supply gap was quite substantial.  To overcome the shortage of tinplate, some companies used to import tinplate. Import of tinplate has been going on for many years. All of a sudden tinplate import became impossible and hence expensive.

The happy days for the metal trading community was cut short by the introduction of Quality Control Order (QCO) on tinplate, wherein any material that is produced in India or imported should meet the standards of BIS. Not only that, it is also mandatory for the companies manufacturing tinplate abroad and selling in India to register their units under BIS regulations. Actually, this is a good system to ensure excellent quality of packaging containers.

However, procurement of basic raw material (tinplate ) became difficult due to shortage of material. Metal packaging is infinitely recyclable without losing any inherent property of metal. In India, recycling of metal is increasing quite fast. Our large tinplate manufacturers have started collecting some of the used containers and recycling them. Globally, metal recycling is quite high, and Indian manufacturers are also recycling quite a lot now. Recycling in India will continue to increase. Importantly, tinplate is very easy to segregate from all types of waste due to its unique magnetic properties. Used tinplate containers can be reused multiple times for storage at homes and for other non-food applications. Further, recycled tinplate is used to produce office stationery, children’s pencil boxes, children’s toys, cycle and automotive parts, etc. Very small to zero quantities are used for landfills. Metal is a very safe environment friendly material.

Tinplate manufacturers have started collecting some of the used containers and recycling them

In addition to tinplate, one can use Tin free steel (TFS) for specific applications. Tinplate is a steel sheet coated with a thin layer of tin. Tin provides corrosion protection and improves the solderability of the material. TFS, on the other hand, is a tin-free steel and instead has a mixed coating composed of chromium and chromium oxide. It is widely used in replacement of (ETP) electrolytic tinplate in market segments not requiring welding, such as metal closures and ends, (DRD) drawn cans and cemented seam cans.

My point is, in the midst of the packaging euphoria, beware of packaging waste. There is no doubt that packaging waste has become a big global problem. Our single-use culture has radically increased the amount of packaging waste we create by a person on a daily, weekly, monthly and annually basis. Plastic, as a packaging material, causes harm to the environment by polluting the natural landscapes, decomposing into tiny microplastics and ending up in the oceans and marine biodiversity. Growing number of businesses, organisations and academia are trying to find renewable and more sustainable replacements for conventional packaging materials that can be fully
and safely reused, recycled and decomposed.

And so, the question to pose is, how to get the big numbers when predicting the waste effect on growth. A core discussion about packaging concerns metal packaging's scope, scale and sustainability. Will metal packaging be a force that accelerates business, will it also speed up recyclability? Metal containers come in different shapes, sizes and designs with different unique forms and types of closures, which make metal packaging itself unique, tamper evident and safe for storage and transportation.

Closures are a very important part of any packaging system. In the case of metal packaging, some types of closures are unique to the products stored inside and shape of the container. Metal packaging has a lucrative business opportunity, since it has excellent printability, cost effectiveness - high speed filling and packaging, glossy and high aesthetic value over other packaging materials. Globally, metal packaging has been witnessing a strong growth over the past few years on account of increasing health consciousness among consumers. The market of global metal packaging is anticipated to be driven by many factors such as rise in packaged food intake and beverages, particularly the increased consumption, use of canned fruits and vegetables and the trend towards and on-the-go lifestyles among progressively younger consumers. Nutrition retentive properties of metal packaging is one of the significant factors driving the market. The growth of pharmaceutical industry and personal care industry is another major reason for the increasing demand of metal packaging.

Venu Ayyar, associate director of the Metal Container Manufacturers’ Association

There are so many items that can be packed and stored in tinplate containers; like baby food powder, fruit juices, ready to drink beverages, edible oil, Indian sweets, chocolates, tea and coffee powder, and the list can be endless. Fish, meat, fresh vegetables and cut fruits, etc when packed in tinplate containers can be preserved without refrigeration for many days, as the metal does not allow air, moisture, gases to come in contact with food. Also cooked food can be preserved in tinplate cans  without loss of aroma and flavour of the spices used in the cooking. Food can be packed in tinplate containers without adding preservatives. Metal and glass are excellent packaging material for food, but metal is far superior to glass for transportation and refrigeration. Let’s not forget that the quality of printing on metal is far superior to any other packaging material, with a fantastic gloss and very importantly no contamination of ink with the food product inside.

One would assume that with such a long list of food products to be packed, tinplate packaging manufacturers may be flying high in business. Yes and No!!  In spite of a long list of products that can be packed in tinplate containers, only a few items are actually packed in tin containers in India. The reason for this is food producers are all the time thinking of the cost of tin containers as the major expensive packaging material over other packaging materials.

Yes of course, the cost of a tinplate container is more than paper or plastic based packaging material. But consider the advantages of tinplate containers over other packaging material and tinplate wins hands down!
I will highlight more details on tinplate containers and closures in the next issue of WhatPackaging?.

See you soon.