General Manager Rohit Garg tells Packaging MEA Editor Ben Daniel how this recognition proves the company is leading the way in sustainability.
From its facility in Al Rashidya, Dubai, Arabian Flexible, part of the Saif Al Ghurair Group, supplies customers across the GCC, MENA and even as far afield as Europe and Asia with flexible printed materials generally used in food packaging. Its key competency is servicing customers from design concept through to the printing process using leading-edge technology.
Packaging MEA Editor Ben Daniel finds out from Rohit Garg, General Manager of Arabian Flexibles about the company’s sustainability and circular economy initiatives.
Ben Daniel (BD): Tell us about the Arabian Flexibles journey so far.
Rohit Garg (RG): Arabian Flexibles started in 1992 and is part of the Saif Al Ghurair Group, which has Taghleef as its Group company. It was and is one of the largest converters in the UAE. Our major focus now is on sustainability and the circular economy.
BD: This journey has led you to one of the most important aspects, which is packaging towards a circular economy. I also understand you now have international sustainability and carbon certification. Congratulations! Tell us more.
RG: If you would have asked me about ISCC a few months ago, I wouldn’t have been able to tell you. It is a new topic for everyone in this region. This certification is necessary for those who want to go in for post-consumer recycling of resins and films. All stakeholders in the supply chain need to be certified, starting from the resin manufacturer to the base film manufacturer to converters like us and to the end-user. There will be mass balance checks at every stage. This basically came up during a discussion with a potentially big customer. They understood Taghleef is into PCR films. We then understood that if they have to sell us PCR films and if we need to use them, we needed this certification. So, that was the initiation point.
We completed this entire process in four months. We have now received the certification and are part of the converter listing on the ISCC website. We are one of the first converters within the GCC region to have been awarded this certification. What this means is that Arabian Flexibles is in a position to use post-consumer recycled films from an ISCC-certified film manufacturer.
BD: What’s the importance of this certification?
RG: If today the whole industry is talking about the 3 R’s – reuse, recycle and reduce – but are we able to use the recycled material back into the original packaging? No. Instead, it’s been used to make resins and produce some other down-the-line products. So, to make a complete circular economy, we need to develop the recycled resin into a food-grade material and put it back into the same industry. This closes the loop truly.
BD: What’s your message to existing and potential food customers, having got this certification?
RG: We are aware that all the giants have made bold commitments that by 2025 they will have 25-40% packaging out of PCR resins and films. They are on the lookout for converters who can provide that. I see this as a very good opportunity for Arabian Flexibles to take a quantum leap into the market.
BD: The solution is great, but with a cost. Who’s going to bear this cost and how can we bring it down?
RG: Yes, any sustainable new product would come at a cost. We cannot get this laminate at a cheaper price. There are various reasons for it, the biggest being the economies of scale. Right now, we are all at the infancy stage, so the economies of scale are very small, meaning the costs are very high. If people think they will just wait until the costs come down, then volumes are not going to increase.
So, we all need to take responsibility and contribute to the growth of the post-consumer recycled packaging and circular economy by absorbing a small percentage of the costs involved. The end consumer will also have to pay a higher price. Only then will the volumes increase and prices come down.
BD: What’s next for Arabian Flexibles?
RG: Future investments will be driven by sustainability. Gone are the days when any investment would be made purely based on commercials. Yes, the commercial aspect is important, but all our future investments will be done with environmental and sustainability factors in mind. That’s a commitment our board had made.