“This new facility in Asia will take Packem to global markets that are already served today by Umasree, in PP bags, especially the United States, Canada and Europe. We have been Umasree’s business partners for over 10 years and it was this relationship of trust that enabled the joint-venture and the joint investment of US$ 15 million in the new facility, being 51% Packem and 49% Umasree,” says Eduardo Santos Neto, CEO of Packem.
The transaction was assisted by MNSS Advisors, which acted as financial, legal and tax advisor to Umasree, and by the law firm Trilegal, which handled Packem’s interests.
The future sustainable PET/PCR big bag facility is expected to create about 700 new jobs in India, which is the largest producer and exporter of big bags in the world. “Our rPET big bag will bring great environmental and social benefits to India, in addition to direct jobs. It is estimated that every ton of recycled plastic will create three local jobs for the collection and recycling industry. In addition, our project will create local demand for post-consumer PET bottles, with positive impact for oceans, rivers and the environment in general,” points out Marcos Spitzner Filho, CFO of Packem.
Umasree’s CEO, Punit Gopalka, said he chose Packem because it is a young, energetic company with a future vision. In addition, he highlights India as a strategic location to serve the global market, in which it has been operating since 2005 and, for the first time, with a 100% recycled and recyclable product.
Gopalka sees a lot of potential in the new product. “End users and governments are pressuring manufacturers to identify a new product that is environmentally sustainable,” he points out. The global Flexible Intermediate Bulk Container (FIBC) market is led by five countries – India, China, Vietnam, Turkey and Mexico – which in 2021 exported 250 million units, with India accounting for 50% of that volume. “We predict that at least 2% of the global big bag market will be able to immediately replace the polypropylene product with PET/PCR big bags and that this replacement will increase over the years,” Umasree’s CEO bets.
Packem has started this month the delivery of the first batches of sustainable big bags to Yara do Brasil, with whom it signed a partnership earlier this year for the construction of the first Brazilian plant to manufacture this product. According to Packem, this is the greatest innovation of the last years in the segment of packaging for agriculture. According to Packem, this is the greatest innovation of the last years in the segment of packaging for agriculture. “Packem’s goal is to develop the circular economy of packaging for the sector. These are the first 100% bag-to-bag projects in the world and will see the big bags used in the field processed and recycled to be made into big bags again. We will reuse 100% of the rPET big bags and this clearly demonstrates our commitment to eliminate virgin plastic from agribusiness and industry, using recycled plastic taken from farms and the environment as a whole,” highlights Spitzner Filho.
