UFlex, the largest multinational flexible packaging and solution provider in India, has introduced a revolutionary single-pellet food and beverage packaging solution that is entirely FSSAI compliant. This new product is a mixture of recycled PET (rPET) and virgin PET that mix together in a single pellet that has high purity and good mechanical and thermal stability. This solution produces resin characterized by high clarity, strength, and low acetaldehyde content while remaining compatible with existing PET manufacturing facilities. This allows the food packaging firms to transition to rPET without necessitating additional investments in infrastructure.
As per the Government of India’s Extended Producers Responsibility (EPR) policy and the new FSSAI norms, the single-pellet solution developed by Uflex is a convenient solution for FMCG brands to achieve their sustainability goals. Beginning April 1, 2025, the new rules ensure that brands in the products packaged in Category 1 rigid plastic packages, i.e., PET bottles, will have to specify at least 30% recycled content by FY26.
UFlex provides a solution that complies with FSSAI specifications on Food Contact Material (FCM) recycled PET (FCM-rPET), ensuring that recycled PET undergoing a validated decontamination process before direct contact with food becomes safe to use. Besides it contains national and international safety standards, including the approval of the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA).
“Sustainability has been at the core of our innovations since day one. Our new single-pellet solution is set to be a game-changer for food and beverage brands striving to meet EPR compliance. We are also reinforcing this commitment with a ₹317 crore investment in two new recycling plants in Noida. As regulations become stricter, we aim to set the standard for responsible, scalable packaging solutions in India and beyond.”
– Ashish Saxena, Joint President—Packaging Films Business, UFlex Limited.
UFlex has become the first corporate firm in India to get the USFDA nod to recycle various materials—recycled polyethylene terephthalate (rPET), recycled polyethylene (rPE), and recycled polypropylene (rPP)—to use in food packaging.
UFlex has set up one of the strongest recycling ecosystems in the industry today with a recycling capacity of 72,300 metric tons per annum (MTPA), and 39,600 MTPA being added to it in due course. Up to now, the company has recycled more than 5 billion post-consumer PET bottles into sustainable raw materials.
UFlex recycled 8,200 metric tons of mixed flexible waste in FY25 in the direction of achieving its goals on a circular economy. The company recycles post-consumer plastic waste in plants established in India, Poland, Egypt and Mexico; recycles a broad spectrum of post-consumer plastic waste; and is a global leader in the solutions for mixed flexible waste and post-consumer recycled (PCR) applications.
UFlex is the biggest multinational in India dealing in flexible packages and solutions. UFlex formed the company in 1985 and has become a major world player with a strong presence across the entire packaging value chain—packaging films, chemicals, flexible packaging, aseptic packaging, holography, engineering, and printing cylinders. Employing over 12,000 employees, the company has been operating in multiple countries and offers innovative and sustainable packaging to Fortune 500 customers in the following industries, among others: FMCG, pharmaceutical, consumer goods, and automobiles.
UFlex has built a reputation for excelling in sustainability and product innovation, and in 1995, the Davos Recycle Forum recognized it as the first company in the world to pioneer recycling mixed plastic waste. UFlex has the facilities of state-of-the-art technology across the world in more than 150 countries, with headquarters in Noida, India.