From 4.5-micron aluminium foil to mono-material packs: Engineering packaging’s shift

As packaging manufacturers face growing pressure to reconcile performance, recyclability and supply security, integrated manufacturing is emerging as a strategic advantage. Jupiter Group is building across the value chain, spanning aluminium rolling and ultra-thin foil to inks, engraving and flexible packaging. In this conversation with AL Circle, Kunal Bajaj discusses mono-material innovation, precision manufacturing, decarbonisation, backward integration and how India can scale globally competitive packaging solutions without compromising environmental accountability or operational resilience.

Bajaj is a second-generation entrepreneur and Promoter at Jupiter Group, where he oversees a diversified manufacturing portfolio spanning flexible packaging, aluminium foils, flat-rolled aluminium products, and critical packaging inputs. He plays a central role in driving the Group’s strategic growth, operational integration, and long-term value creation across its manufacturing ecosystem.

AL Circle: Multi-layer laminates have long been the shelf-life benchmark, but a recycling headache. How is Jupiter Laminators turning them into mono-material structures without compromising barrier performance for FMCG and pharma brands?

Kunal Bajaj: We have always believed that performance and sustainability are not a trade-off, since they are an engineering challenge and one that we are committed to solving. At Jupiter Laminators, we have been developing mono-material solutions across PP/PP, MDOPE/PE, and rPET constructions. Each operates on single-polymer logic, meaning it can enter the recycling stream as a single material rather than as an incompatible stack. We are also actively working with brand owners to reduce ink GSM and overall packaging thickness, reducing both plastic content and VOC emissions in the process.

Barrier performance remains non-negotiable. Our 2,450 mm wide web Buhler metalliser with Adhesion Plus technology allows us to achieve very high optical density metallised film, delivering barrier properties that previously required multi-layer structures, now within a mono-material format.

The transition requires more engineering, not less. Our R&D team works alongside brand owners through every stage - substrate selection, coating, seal integrity, shelf-life validation. The goal is simple: a recyclable structure that performs as well as what it replaces. We are not there on every application yet, but the progress is real, and the direction is clear.

AL Circle: As recyclable packaging goes beyond the substrate with inks, adhesives and cylinder engraving also in play — how do Inkofix and EngravePlus strengthen your R&D speed and mono-material innovation?

Kunal Bajaj: Recyclability isn't just about the substrate. The ink, adhesive, and gravure cylinder all affect whether a mono-material structure actually qualifies at the end-of-life.

The R&D speed advantage comes from having all of this under one roof. At most converters, film, ink, and adhesive development happen in separate cycles  - you iterate, realign, requalify and that is time-consuming. With Inkofix inside the group, our film and ink teams work together from day one. The formulations are already matched to substrates. There is no vendor loop, no waiting on external qualification.

EngravePlus adds precision at the print stage. Mono-material films are thinner and less dimensionally stable than multilayer structures. If the cylinder isn't engraved to exactly match those properties, you compensate at the press with more ink, slower speeds, and more chemistry. We avoid that by designing the cylinder alongside the construction from the start.

The result: when we develop a new mono-material structure, every component film, ink, adhesive, cylinder is qualified in parallel, not in sequence. That is where the speed comes from.

AL Circle: JUPALCO's 120,000 MTPA continuous casting operation is a heavy industrial setup. What were the biggest challenges in shifting it to LPG and solar power, and what ROI does that transition deliver?

Kunal Bajaj: Transitioning a high-throughput continuous casting operation isn't a fuel swap — it requires re-engineering combustion systems to match LPG's different burn characteristics while maintaining the precise thermal profiles that aluminium metallurgy demands. Alongside this, integrating captive solar into a 24/7 baseload operation requires careful energy management to ensure zero process disruption.

The returns are structural, not just operational. LPG delivers cleaner combustion, lower emissions intensity, and reduced compliance exposure. With ~60 per cent renewable energy targeted by 2030, we are progressively decarbonising our Scope 2 profile. In export markets where CBAM, ASI certification, and supply chain ESG disclosures are becoming standard, this positions Jupalco as a verifiably responsible source and that has real commercial value. However current war situation has increased the LPG price but we thrive

AL Circle: With LSKB Aluminium Foils' 4.5-micron foil now among the thinnest globally, how does extreme precision rolling cut material use and lower Scope 3 emissions for brand owners?

Kunal Bajaj: The aluminium sustainability story is often misread. Primary production is energy-intensive — that is true. But aluminium is infinitely recyclable at a fraction of that energy cost, and at 4.5 microns you are delivering the same barrier function with significantly less material per square metre. At 4.5 microns, less material goes into each square metre of foil. For brand owners tracking Scope 3 emissions across their packaging supply chain is a relevant input to their carbon accounting.

LSKB's ASI Performance Standard V3 (2022) certification, independently verified by CETIZION Verifica, gives brand owners an auditable document covering environment, social, and governance across 11 principles and 62 criteria. Production scrap is recycled back through JUPALCO into fresh foil stock — waste re-enters the value chain rather than leaving as landfill.

AL Circle: As a second-generation entrepreneur, how do you balance the speed of Make in India growth with the need for strict environmental self-regulation?

Kunal Bajaj: The second-generation perspective matters here in a specific way. My father, Mr Sandeep Bajaj, built this group by converting machines in 2003. What I have inherited is not just capacity; it is a reputation, a customer base, and relationships that took decades to earn. That foundation is what drives us to stay ahead of environmental standards, not just meet them. The FMCG and pharma brands we serve are running supplier audits more rigorously than regulatory requirements. Every audit we clear strengthens the relationship and deepens the account. Sustainability compliance has become a commercial differentiator, and we are positioned for it.

As per me, self-regulation means not waiting for a rule to be written before you act. JUPALCO's alignment with BRSR, GRI, and SBTi frameworks was not mandated. We chose those frameworks because they are the language our global customers speak. The CBAM preparation building manufacturing systems that can demonstrate verified embedded emissions was not a response to a government directive. It was a forward-looking market decision.

Make in India is a real opportunity since India's packaging industry is growing fast. Jupiter Group's backward integration is our answer to that growth: aluminium, cylinders, inks, adhesives, flexible packaging — all under one roof, all in India. What that gives our customers is not just competitive pricing — it is the same quality, the same process controls, the same compliance standards on every order. No weak links in the chain. When an international partner works with us, they are not compromising on standards to source from India  they are getting a supply chain built to last.

AL Circle: With backward integration at the core of Jupiter Group's model, how will this structure shield clients from raw material volatility and make sustainable packaging viable at scale over the next 3 to 5 years?

Kunal Bajaj: Flexible packaging is a demand-driven business. Brand owners need speed, consistency, and cost predictability all three, not a trade-off between them. Backward integration is how Jupiter Group delivers that without passing supply chain stress to the customer.

When inks, adhesives, cylinders, films, and laminates are all developed and sourced within the same ecosystem, the quality conversation happens internally before it reaches the customer. Reformulations, substrate changes, barrier upgrades  - these are resolved at the R&D table, not on the production floor during a live order. That is what a genuinely integrated flexible packaging operation looks like in practice.

The aluminium manufacturing capability through LSKB and JUPALCO adds a further layer of stability that most flexible packaging companies simply cannot offer. Foil stock, ultra-thin gauges, semi-rigid containers: these critical inputs flow from within the group, rather than from an exposed spot market. When global aluminium availability tightens or prices shift, our customers are insulated from that noise.

The result is supply assurance matched to projected demand supporting price stability. Reliable availability of materials, consistent quality at every stage, and a sustainability chain recycled input, certified processes, verified credentials that holds its integrity from raw material to finished pack.For brand owners, that translates simply to: fewer escalations, fewer surprises, and a packaging partner whose answer to disruption is structure rather than apology.