The 2-minute Packaging Podcast with Jenson George: Recent Episodes

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Welcome to the 2-minute Packaging Podcast with Jenson George where we discuss & discover packaging in your everyday life, 1 question at a time.

Today is not a question but a story. An inspiring story from the packaging industry.
The story of Srikanth Bolla and his sustainable packaging business.

A couple days ago, I came across this news article on BBC which read, "Srikanth Bolla: The blind CEO's £48m company which nearly didn't happen."

As was intended, the headlines caught my attention and I dived deep into the article.

The article tells us the story of Srikanth's struggles growing up as a blind kid.
Stigmatized by the society, overcoming the hurdles or everyday routine tasks, fighting a conventional educational system, Srikanth didn't loose hope.

He fought bravely for what he believed in. He knew he didn't have to accept somebody else's limit of his potential.

This attitude helped him become the first international blind student at MIT, Massachusetts in 2009.

In 2012, he started his own company in India and went on to build a sustainable packaging business which manufactures eco-friendly products, such as corrugated packaging, from fallen Areca palm leaves.

Last year, at the age of 30, Srikanth made it onto the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders 2021 list.

Srikanth's Bollant Industries is today valued at £48m.

The three important lessons I learnt from Srikanth's story is;
1. What you can't do by yourself, you can still do if you are ready to trust the people in your life.

1. It doesn't matter what the world thinks the limit of our potential is . The limit of our potential is for us to decide.

2. When you are driven by a vision & a purpose, no obstacle is too big to stop you.

A shout out to my friend Kevin from Manipal who is now lost in the beautiful landscapes of Denmark for sharing this story with me.

Please read Srikanth Bolla's story online and do share your three big takeaways from the story.

Do feel free to like, share and comment on our content if you find them valuable and interesting.

This is Jenson George signing off.
See you again next time on the 2-minute Packaging Podcast.

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Welcome to the 2-minute Packaging Podcast with Jenson George where we discuss & discover packaging in your everyday life, 1 question at a time.

Our question for today is, "Are bioplastics biodegradable?"

Firstly let us understand what are bioplastics.
There are different definitions to bioplastics but the most commonly accepted definition is that, "Bioplastics are plastics that are made from a renewable resource and / or are able to break down naturally."

Bioplastics can be bio-based or biodegradable or both.
When we say bio-based, we mean these plastics are made from a renewable resource such as plants like corn & sugarcane for example.

What we need to understand here is that all bio-based plastics may not be biodegradable and all biodegradable plastics may not be bio-based.

Bioplastics are generally produced by extracting sugar from plants like corn and sugarcane to convert into poly-lactic acids also known as PLAs. PLA is one of the most commonly produced bioplastic and is largely used in food packaging. There are many different types of bioplastics for different applications. PLA is only one of that.

PLA often comes from the same industries that make products like ethanol. This makes it one of the the cheapest sources of bioplastic.

One of the reasons why bioplastics are gaining popularity is because it does not come from fossil fuels. This helps reduce the carbon footprint in the overall lifecycle of the plastic product but does it really solve the plastic pollution problem?

The debate continues without any clear answers yet......

Do feel free to like, share and comment on our content if you find them valuable and interesting.

This is Jenson George signing off.
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Welcome to the 2-minute Packaging Podcast with Jenson George where we discuss & discover packaging in your everyday life, 1 question at a time.

Our question for today is, "What is ATEX & Why does it matter?"

ATEX spelled as A, T, E, X is a certification that assures minimum safety requirements for workplace and machinery used in explosive atmospheres.

ATEX stands  for Explosive Atmosphere.

Explosive atmospheres are not just limited to the packaging of explosives as was my assumption in the early days. Apparently it is a crucial protocol followed by many food,  chemical & pharmaceutical companies in their production environment. 

Food that includes fine powder like flour, baby food, chemical powders should all need an ATEX certification. The reason being, in a powder dust filled environment, a small spark can lead to an explosion due to the dust in the air. Therefore it is necessary that the machines, the components used in those machines and the overall process involved are spark free.

Explosions can occur in dust filled and gas filled environments. Hence, packaging companies operating under these conditions need to have ATEX certification for safe operations.

Do feel free to like, share and comment on our content if you find them valuable and interesting.

This is Jenson George signing off.
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Welcome to the 2-minute Packaging Podcast with Jenson George where we discuss everything in the world of packaging, 1 question at a time.

Our question for today is, "Are paper cups recyclable?"

The answer to this question may not be as simple as the question itself.

We first need to understand the material used to make paper cups. Though they are called paper cups, these cups have a thin layer of PE or polyethylene coating on the inside to hold the hot beverage.

Recycling PE coated paper is very difficult as it is not easy to separate the PE from the paper. Many countries do not have the kind of recycling facilities that can separate PE from paper. Thus in most cases, PE coated paper cups are not recycled.

However, there are new research & innovations happening to address this issue. Paper companies are collaborating with paper cup manufacturers to develop paper with water based barrier coating that can contain hot liquid. We call these bio-barrier coated paper. Paper cups made from bio-barrier coated paper are called bio-cups or bio paper cups.

These bio-cups are said to be plastic free. With the research and innovations happening in this sector, we shall probably see a lot more of these bio-cups around us in the future.

Do feel free to like, share and comment on our content if you find them valuable and interesting.

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Welcome to the 2-minute Packaging Podcast with Jenson George where we discuss everything in the world of packaging, 1 question at a time.

Our question for today is, "What is Skin packaging & where do we use it?"

Skin Packaging is a process where we use high barrier film and wrap it around the product placed on a card base. This card base can be paperboard, tray, thin plastic sheets, doesn't matter.

However, the important point here is the base should be compatible with the film for the sealing to happen.

The high-barrier flexible film is softened using heat and pulled towards the product through vacuum. This process forces the film to take the shape of the product and the carded base thus behaving like a second skin to the product.

We find skin packaging mainly in food packaging applications such as raw or processed meat & fish.

Two reasons why skin packaging is gaining popularity is because,
1. The vacuum process or the absence of atmosphere increases the shelf life of the food and
2. Unlike regular vacuum packaging, once the package is punctured or cut open, only the part that is cut open can be removed, The remaining part of the package will still remain intact as the barrier film continues to stick to the product as a second skin.

This is especially helpful if you are going to consume the product, in this case the meat or the fish over a period of a few days for example.

Do feel free to like, share and comment on our content if you find them valuable and interesting.

This is Jenson George signing off.
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Welcome to the 2-minute Packaging Podcast with Jenson George where we discuss everything in the world of packaging, 1 question at a time.

Our question for today is, "What is the difference between BF & GSM in paper and how does it matter?"

BF is Bursting Factor and GSM is grams per square meter.

What do we mean by Bursting Factor?
Bursting Factor is the amount of Force required to rupture a square centimeter of paper using hydrostatic pressure.

Whereas GSM is the weight of paper in grams, for every 1 square meter.

Generally, higher the GSM, higher the BF. However, 2 different papers of the same GSM may have different bursting factors. 

These factors are generally considered in package design, especially in the corrugated and the paper bags industry. 

In these industries, we often come across applications where the package has to be light and strong. 

Selecting the right grade of paper can make your package strong, light and cost effective.

Do feel free to like, share and comment on our content if you find them valuable and interesting.

This is Jenson George signing off.
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Welcome to the 2-minute Packaging Podcast with Jenson George where we discuss everything in the world of packaging, 1 question at a time.

Our question for today is, "What is MAP & Why or where do we use it?"

MAP is Modified Atmosphere Packaging.
What it means is we modify the atmosphere inside the package by flushing in one or different types of gases. Gases we normally find in the atmosphere such as Oxygen, Nitrogen or Carbon Dioxide.

It is used in food packaging to increase the shelf life of the packaged food. This technology has been in use in many parts of Europe and the Western world for many years.

Recently, the Middle East market has become open to this technology and we see a growing number of food packaging companies exploring MAP.

We shall discuss more on MAP in our coming episodes.

Do feel free to like, share and comment on our content if you find them valuable and interesting.

This is Jenson George signing off.
See you again next time on the 2-minute Packaging Podcast.