India, a major plastics polluter, generates nearly 29,000 tons of plastic waste daily. Pakka, a company based in the country’s northern city of Ayodhya, set out more than four decades ago to help mitigate the problem by manufacturing sustainable food packaging and food serviceware materials using agricultural waste as raw materials. Last year, it partnered with Brawny Bear, a Mumbai-based packaged foods company that uses dates instead of sugar, to manufacture in Ayodhya biodegradable flexible packaging products that degrade into natural and non-toxic components.
Pakka, which raised $2.8 million in an initial public offering last year, plans to use its post-IPO equity funding to open what it says will be the world’s first compostable flexible packaging facility, also in Ayodhya, by December 2025. The company will also double its manufacturing capacity for clean packaging and boost its research and development processes.
Pakka’s Ved Krishna says the company, one of only seven publicly-listed B corporations in the world, is rooted in keeping the planet cleaner. “Through our innovations in food service and flexible packaging, we are focused on developing compostable solutions that minimize environmental impact,” he says. “With our compostable flexible packaging facility, we envision setting a new benchmark for sustainable packaging.”
Green packaging shift. The global sustainable packaging market, valued at around $300 billion, could hit $423 billion in 2029. The Asian market, already a global packaging hub thanks to China, may gain traction amid pushes in the region for sustainability. China and India banned the use of single-use plastics in 2022; India, which consumes 16 million tons of plastic each year, aims to recycle 50% of its plastic packaging by 2030. Thailand implemented a plastics ban for major retailers four years ago.
Recycling startups. The policy shifts, along with heightened consumer awareness and growing innovation, mean that more companies in the region are obtaining financing to deliver plastic packaging alternatives. India’s Bambrew secured more than $7 million in equity and debt in March to expand production of green packaging for fast moving consumer goods. Last year, India’s Cirkla got $3 million to scale its green packaging efforts. Indian impact funder Omnivore led a $10 million round for India’s Fibmold, another eco-friendly startup that makes molded pulp packaging products.
