Yash Pakka (YPL), a pioneer in the compostable packaging industry, has kickstarted the development of its first overseas plant in the Central American country Guatemala. The new plant is expected to be the world’s largest compostable flexible packaging and molded fiber facility. As the first big step in this direction, Pakka has signed MoU with the country’s major sugar companies to procure sugarcane residue, also known as bagasse, which is the primary raw material used by the company for its products.

Pakka explored various geographies, including Mexico, Belize, Colombia, Brazil, and Peru, among others, to set up their first factory outside India. The primary market that they are willing to cater to is North America. The company chose Guatemala due to the widespread availability of sugarcane in the country, as well as the positive response they received from Guatemala authorities and sugar companies. The upcoming plant is expected to be operational by mid-2025 with a production capacity of 400 tonnes per day.

In its bid to find alternatives for single-use plastic, Pakka has been developing compostable packaging solutions for more than four decades. For Pakka, pioneers in the packaging space, compostable flexible packaging seems like a natural progression as it is expected to have a big impact on the industry, which is moving towards sustainability. The development of flexible packaging has been in the works, and rigorous R&D has been conducted over the last couple of years by the company’s innovations team. The company has also been offering compostable molded fiber products for food service in India through its brand Chuk. The new plant in Guatemala will produce flexible packaging and molded fiber products as its primary offerings. While these will be the focus, information about other products that will be manufactured in the Guatemala plant will be shared in due course of time.

Pakka’s work has been towards developing alternate solutions for single-use plastic, which is aligned with the company’s vision of a cleaner planet. This is a step in that direction and is expected to have a widespread impact.

Ved Krishna, strategy lead, Yash Pakka, said, “We are delighted to partner with the Guatemalan sugar industry to start the process of setting up the world’s largest compostable packaging and molded fiber facility. The idea is to work towards developing better bio-materials for food packaging and service."