‘Plastic packaging contributes to economic development’

The use of plastic for packaging food beverages, chemicals, electronics and other items have been identified as veritable tool to enhance the value of a product and projection of its identity.

Besides, the General Managing Director, Flour Mills Nigeria, Paul Gbededo, has said the use of plastics for packaging contributes to the social and economic development, which also helps to protect and conserve environment.

Gbedebo disclosed this at his investiture as a fellow when the Polymer Institute of Nigeria (PIN) visited him in Lagos.

According to him, only four per cent of the fuels consumed goes into making of plastics. For the food industry, various applications of plastics particularly in packaging are the most visible use of plastics.

He said without plastics, overall packaging weight would increase 300 per cent, adding that the traditional materials, jute, paper, sisal, wood, cardboard, tinplate, aluminium and glasswares were widely replaced with the advent of plastics due to many inherent advantages.

“With its packaging company popularly known as BAGCO, FMN Group consumes over 35, 000 metric tonnes of polymeric materials annually providing packaging solution, which includes 300 million woven bags and tons of films per annum”, he stated.

He added: “In-house, it supports all our packaging needs both for business to business and business to consumer fast moving consumer goods”. It is on this belief that the group will continue to support the ideals of PIN.

Earlier in his remarks, National President, PIN, Dr Paul Mamza, described Gbededo as a consummate industrialist who has contributed immensely to the promotion of polymer products in the country.