Leno is a type of weaving that has been derived from the textile industry. In this type of weaving, the adjacent warp tape is twisted around consecutive weft tapes to form a spiral pair effectively locking each weft in place. The plastic weft formed looks like figure of “8” down the length of fabric. A bag made from such weave is called “Leno” bags.

Leno bags are characterized by excellent breathability and good tensile as well as burst strength and are an ideal alternative to packaging of conventional materials to pack agriculture & consumer products. To further enhance mechanical strength PP is used instead of HDPE. It is necessary that this type of fabric be manufactured on circular looms. Typically 750-denier tape is used to manufacture PP leno bags. These bags are made in the capacity ranging from 10 kg to as high as 80-1200 kgs. Bags produced can accept loads upto 50 kg and keeps vegetables and fruits fresh for a longer time, are durable, reusable and washable. They also offer the advantage of being low weight as well as of cost economics.

Consumption of plastic raffia/tape in India in 2004 was approximately 750 KT. PP had almost 65% share of this consumption because it offers several advantages over HDPE, like better mechanical strength at lower weight. HDPE is the second most widely used material after PP for manufacture of woven bags. Globally however, leno bags are exclusively manufactured from PP. Raw material manufacturers like RIL are developing the market of PP leno bags in India mainly for vegetable and fruit packaging. It is estimated that almost 2000 MT of PP leno bags are already used commercially in India. Reliance market development group expects the potential market of as high as 180 KT. The main drivers of this huge potential are abundant production of vegetable (59 million tons) and fruit (30 million tons) in India. . In addition modified system may also be used as protective sleevings for finished products such as crankshafts, gears and other engineering goods.