Archroma Packaging Technologies provides chemistries across a wide range of applications for packaging and materials for wood, paints and construction.
PaperDesk : How does Archroma’s Center of Innovation (COI) in Mumbai drive advanced R&D initiatives to support sustainable solutions for the Indian and global markets?
Dr. Dinesh Borole : At Archroma Packaging Technologies, it is our mission to make sustainable chemistry possible, at our COI for Flexible Packaging, we develop water-based products using environmentally friendly raw materials.
We continually strive to increase the biobased content of existing end products and new formulations without sacrificing the quality, functionality and product performance expected from our customers.
PD : What are the key focus areas of the Mumbai COI, and how does it collaborate with customers to develop customized chemical solutions?
DB : The Mumbai COI focuses on developing sustainable solutions specifically for the flexible packaging market in addition to supporting our core wood business.
PD : Can you explain how the COI integrates innovation, testing, and product development to accelerate time-to-market for new technologies?
DB : The COI provides a platform for customers and our innovation and applications team to collaborate to identify their pain points, brainstorm newer solutions, and experiment together to provide effective and advantageous environmentally friendly solutions. The in-house infrastructure of R&D and applications testing enables faster testing and evaluation thereby accelerating the time to market.
PD : What is the Strategic Location in India ?
DB : The packaging market in India is projected to experience significant growth driven by various factors such as the e-commerce sector’s expansion, consumer preference for sustainable packaging, and growth in the food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries. There is a growing trend towards eco-friendly alternatives like paper-based packaging, reflecting a shift towards sustainability both at the consumer and regulatory level. The market is expected to grow at a double digit CAGR of 11~12% from 2025 to 2033. As one of our strategic growth markets, this was a significant opportunity to invest in the region which now contains one of our three global COIs.
PD : How does Archroma’s strategic presence in India enhance its ability to efficiently serve South Asia and neighboring global markets?
DB : Archroma’s strategic presence in India enhances its ability to efficiently serve South Asia and neighboring markets through a strong, integrated manufacturing and innovation footprint. Key production sites in Ankleshwar and Roha provide both scale and strategic positioning: Ankleshwar, located within a major chemical hub, offers multimodal export connectivity via ports such as Nhava Sheva and Hazira, while Roha benefits from proximity to JNPT and emerging port infrastructure, enabling efficient access to global trade routes. Combined with Archroma’s innovation center in Mumbai, this footprint ensures high responsiveness to regional demand while supporting cost-efficient and reliable supply to global markets.
PD : What role does India’s industrial ecosystem and logistics network play in strengthening Archroma’s supply chain and customer responsiveness?
DB : India’s strong recovery post- pandemic and the governments focus on infrastructure development have established it as a key logistics hub, enhancing supply chain resilience. Various government initiatives aim to create a more integrated logistics ecosystem, reducing logistics cost and improving efficiency.
Realtime digital platforms improve visibility of the material movement and help in coordination across supply chains.
PD : How is Archroma leveraging its India base to support regional R&D collaboration and faster innovation deployment?
DB : The COI facility in India enables fast tracking of the customer solutions, product modifications, and introduction of new products. By working closely with regional application labs, our base and capabilities in India enable adoption across the region. The COI enables quicker turnaround in proving fit to use products based on customer needs and reduces product development and testing cycle time.
PD : How do Archroma’s recent product innovations align with sustainability, performance requirements, evolving industry regulations, and changing customer expectations?
DB : The Center of Innovation (COI) has made significant strides in the packaging sector, successfully supporting a range of products across Folding Box, Paper Bag, Corrugation, Lamination, Barrier, and heat seal applications, as well as wood adhesives. With a commitment to pioneering next-generation products, the COI is focused on delivering superior bonding and efficiency.
Sustainability is at the heart of our development process, as evidenced by our new adhesive products that maintain high performance with reduced usage, enhancing productivity and ensuring smoother operations. We are dedicated to increasing the biobased content in our offerings to significantly reduce carbon footprint and lead the industry towards a more sustainable future.
PD :Can you share insights into the R&D process behind developing next-generation specialty chemicals for diverse industries?
DB : Archroma Pkg Tech balances global innovation with regional product development to deliver next generation solutions to our end markets. We are always starting with water-based chemistries as the foundation; From there, we focus on delivering additional sustainability improvements whether that is in operational efficiency/yield, increased biobased content, or creating alternatives to fossil-based technologies. Our aim is to help our customers transition to a more sustainable world, one product at a time.
PD : What innovations have you introduced in biobased barrier coatings, and how do they contribute to sustainability, recyclability, and compliance with evolving packaging regulations?
DB : We have developed PFAS free formulations providing required oil resistance. Continuous efforts are on to increase the biobased content in barrier applications.
PD : How is Archroma advancing barrier technologies to provide effective resistance against oil and grease while maintaining sustainability?
DB : Archroma Packaging Technologies is working on PFAS free solutions for oil resistance with focus on barrier performance against biodegradability, recyclability and compostability. We are evaluating our solutions on different substrates, different application equipment, different end-use materials, different pulp/fiber inputs keeping in mind the regulatory compliances.
PD : What innovations are being developed in biobased barrier solutions to replace conventional chemical coatings?
DB : We are inventing solutions with higher biobased content providing comparable barrier performance along with focus on biodegradability, recyclability and compostability.
PD : How do these barriers solutions support food safety standards and environmental compliance across packaging applications?
DB : We are providing solutions compliant with FDA, BFR and Reach Regulation for packaging applications.
PD : What advancements has Archroma made in optical brightener technologies to improve brightness and durability in paper?
DB : Archroma has continuously developed advanced optical brightening technologies focused on performance, efficiency, and sustainability in combination with tinting colorants to offer full whiteness management systems. In the last years. Archroma PT has introduced Leucophor® ACK liquid in the Indian market, bringing to our customers an ultra‑concentrated, urea‑free optical brightener designed to deliver high whiteness performance at significantly lower dosage levels.
It offers excellent substantivity to fibers and enables strong whiteness build‑up even at very low concentrations. Its urea‑free formulation reduces nitrogen and COD load in effluents, supporting cleaner mill operations and improved sustainability. The high concentration also minimizes transport, storage, and handling requirements, lowering overall CO₂ footprint. It combines premium optical performance with cost efficiency and a reduced environmental impact, making it a benchmark solution for modern paper production.
PD : How do optical brighteners contribute to both aesthetic quality and functional performance in end-use applications?
DB : Our Leucophor® product range absorbs UV light and re-emit it as blue light, neutralizing the natural yellow tones of the fibers and increasing perceived whiteness and brightness. This creates a “whiter-than-white” effect, improving product attractiveness in paper and paper packaging. This is not only an aesthetic benefit, but it also taps onto the functionality since enhanced background brightness makes colors appear more vivid and saturated.
When it comes to Printing & Writing paper grades, reducing the drying time of the ink, and getting sharp black and vivid colors is critical for printing houses and end-consumer. That can be achieved by using Leucophor VPI liquid on Colorlok papers. Leucophor® VPI liq is a product designed to give the best performance on ColorLok® papers breaking through whiteness and brightness ceilings while reducing size-press deposition and OBA demand.
In Newsprint paper grades, brightness gains have been traditionally achieved with high amounts of chemically bleached pulp, which tends to come at the expense of high effluent costs and unpleasant odor to the paper. Replacement of reductive bleaching chemicals by our Leucophor® optical brighteners, in combination with Cartazine® tinting colorants leads to cleaner influence for the paper mill and the production of high-quality paper.
PD : What research is being done to develop eco-friendly optical brighteners with reduced environmental impact?
DB : One of the most recent developments from Archroma PT is Leucophor® AFCD, a stable aqueous suspension optical brightener designed to meet the most demanding environmental requirements while delivering reliable performance in papermaking applications. It is formulation free of solubilizing aids combined with its high fixation rate, contributes to lower nitrogen and COD levels in the paper mill effluent. It is particularly well suited for wet-end (stock) application as well as for coating formulations containing PVOH, CMC, or casein as secondary binders. Leucophor® AFCD is also compliant with food contact regulations by FDA and BfR XXXVI.
PD : How is Archroma innovating in dye chemistry to achieve high color performance while reducing water and energy consumption?
DB : Archroma is innovating in dye chemistry by combining high-performance coloration with resource-efficient solutions across the paper value chain. Our dye portfolios, such as Carta® and Cartasol®, are engineered with high substantivity to the fiber, ensuring excellent dye fixation and minimizing dye losses into wastewater. This leads to cleaner backwater, reduced chemical waste, and more efficient use of raw materials in production.
Producing deep shaded paper while keeping backwater clean has always been a challenge for the paper industry. During the dyeing of deep black paper packaging, most of the colorant ends up in the backwater leading to the need for laborious machine cleaning and backwater treatment. Many dyes used for deep shades tend to bleed and fade, making them unsuitable for food and luxury packaging. To overcome those challenges, Archroma offers Diresul® Black PFT liquid, a deep dying sulfur dye, highly substantive and with quick fixation onto the fiber. It allows paper mills to produce deep black shared with high light- and bleed fastness with clear backwater.
PD : What are the latest trends in sustainable dyes, and how is Archroma addressing industry demand for eco-friendly coloration?
DB : The latest trends in sustainable dyes are centered on combining high color performance with lower environmental impact, including improved dye fixation, cleaner backwaters, compostability, food-contact compliance, and compatibility with circular packaging systems. In paper coloration, there is growing demand for dyes that deliver vibrant shades and deep color while reducing waste, supporting recyclability, and meeting increasingly strict regulatory and eco-label requirements.
Archroma is addressing these needs through its Carta®, Cartasol® F, and Cartafix® ranges for paper, which are designed to provide strong color brilliance, excellent bleed-fastness, and high substantivity to the fiber or substrate. High substantivity helps improve dye retention, which supports cleaner wastewater streams and more efficient production. A key part of Archroma’s response to the market is its development of compostable dyes and fixatives for paper applications. Archroma offers a selection of products that meet recognized compostability standards such as EN 13432, ASTM D6400 and ISO 17088, while also complying with food-contact requirements under BfR XXXVI.
PD : What Adhesives are been manufactured in Archroma ?
DB : Various products have been developed addressing the segments below:
Packaging Adhesive
- Corrugation
- Paper Bag
- Folding Box
- Lamination
Barrier Coating
Wood Adhesive
- D2 adhesive
- D3 Adhesive
PD : What innovations is Archroma introducing in adhesive technologies to enhance bonding performance and sustainability?
DB :
- Introduction of Crosslinking Additives to increase bond strength
- Increase of bio base content to reduce carbon footprint
- Reduction in adhesive quantity to get better performance.
PD : How are adhesives being developed to meet the evolving needs of packaging and industrial applications?
DB : The adhesives are being developed with foremost importance to customer needs, inculcating better performance but with due importance to the sustainability criteria.
PD : What R&D efforts are focused on creating biobased or low-VOC adhesive solutions for future markets?
DB : We are continuously striving to develop products with increased Biobased content, incorporating food grade material keeping in mind biodegradability, recyclability and compostability requirements.