TAPMA to Organise International Plastics Exhibition – IPLAS 2022 – to Give a Fillip to Tamil Nadu’s Plastics Processing Industry

Chennai, June 2022

The Tamil Nadu Plastics Manufacturers’ Association (TAPMA), a premier industry body of plastics processing industries in the state, is organizing an international plastics exhibition, IPLAS 2022, at Chennai Trade Center, between June 10–13, 2022, for the promotion of the industry, and the safe mechanisms for recycling of used plastic materials.

TAPMA has launches a booklet on the use and disposal of plastic materials at a press conference today. The booklet highlights the facts about plastics and intends to remove misconceptions and dispel myths surrounding plastics. It will be distributed free of cost to the visitors at the exhibition.

Spread over 13000 sqm, this four-day exhibition is expected to attract about 350 exhibitors and over 75,000 visitors. There will be live demos of machines from over 60 companies. IPLAS 2022 is expected to generate business worth about Rs. 500 crore for the exhibitors. Entry to the exhibition is FREE both to the business visitors and the general public.

In order to create awareness of the benefits of plastics among the general public, IPLAS will have a theme pavilion, titled ‘A World of Plastics – a Right View’, which will be open to all between June 10-13, 2022. Another highlight of IPLAS is that it will have a special recycling pavilion to demonstrate how plastic waste is converted into granules and then again into finished products in line with the ideals of a circular economy. On display will be new inventions such as recyclable multi layered laminates and plastics wrappers used for packaging, hitherto considered non-recyclable.

Talking about IPLAS 2022, Mr. S. Rakkappan, President, TAPMA, said that IPLAS is expected to give a fillip to Tamil Nadu’s Rs. 15,000 crore plastic industry comprising 8000 plus factories. They provide direct and indirect employment to 3,00,000 and 5,00,000 people respectively. It contributes Rs. 2,700 crore to the GST annually. The sector is dominated by small scale units that account for nearly 85% of the registered units, while micro and medium units account for 5% each. Only 5% of the processors are large companies.

“We believe that IPLAS will go a long way in helping the industry to achieve a growth rate of at least 20% in the near term and 25–40% in the longer run, while adhering to the legal framework of the government. The industry will create lakhs of new jobs and add to the overall prosperity of the state,” he said.

At present, the plastic industry in Tamil Nadu is growing only at 4-5% per annum. TAPMA has plans to submit a detailed white paper to the government for the promotion of the industry. “Normally the plastics industry grows about 1.5 to 2 times the GDP of the country or the state. However, the industry has grown only at about 5%, while Tamil Nadu’s GSDP registered an impressive 14% growth in 2021-22. Currently, the industry in the states like Maharashtra and Gujarat clock an annual growth rate of 25%. This means our state is lagging behind very much compared to the national trend. We have a growth potential of 28% or higher. As per our estimate this growth rate is achievable with the support of the government,” he said.

In his comments about the potential of the plastics recycling segment, Mr. B. Swaminathan, Chairman – Environment Committee, TAPMA, said, “We are excited about the growth potential of the plastics recycling industry in Tamil Nadu. We expect that the recycling segment alone will attract about Rs. 300 crore of investment in the near future. Hence, we are having a special pavilion at IPLAS to showcase recycling technology – especially, in the area of recycling non-recyclable multilayered packaging materials. After the exhibition, we will take this theme pavilion throughout the state in the next 12 months to boost the state wide adoption of the latest recycling technologies.”

He added that TAPMA is committed to promoting compact safe recyclers. It has plans to place the recyclers at public locations to demonstrate how dry waste is converted into granules that are used subsequently for production of different products. “We will be working with various corporations and municipalities to install these recyclers for better plastic waste management and recycling. These compact safe recyclers will work on single phase power supply and will help rag pickers and other NGOs to see higher value addition in their efforts. These technologies will ensure higher recovery of plastics waste from the municipal garbage. In a span of a few years, we expect the presence of plastics in the garbage to drop from 7% to 2%,” he pointed out.