New initiative launched to tackle harder to recycle flexible plastic packaging

As members of RECOUP, Casepak was delighted to hear that the organisation is part of a coalition that has launched FlexCircular, a new initiative to help the UK recycle up to 400,000 tonnes of post-consumer flexible packaging by 2030.

Flexible plastic refers to items such as plastic bags and liners, wrappers for sweets, chocolates, biscuits etc, crisp bags and ready meal pouches. RECOUP estimated in 2022 that 895,000 tonnes of flexible plastic packaging is placed in the UK market every year, but just 7% is collected and recycled.

These flexible plastic packaging items have traditionally been difficult to collect and recycle and the Flexible Plastic Fund (FPF) was established in 2021 with the aim of getting everyone in the flexible plastic supply chain collaborating to try and bring this packaging back for recycling.

FPF’s first major initiative was the launch of FlexCollect, which aimed to try and understand the best ways that plastic packaging can be recycled from households across the UK. The initiative trialed a series of innovative household collection and recycling pilots in ten local authority areas over three years, which collected 400 tonnes of recycling from 160,000 households.

Most importantly, the trial resulted in the production of a detailed guide on how to integrate flexible plastic packaging into existing kerbside recycling collections. It also provided insights and guidance for all parts of the waste and recycling industry as it prepares for mandatory flexible plastic collections from 2027 under the Simpler Recycling scheme.

The new initiative, FlexCircular, takes the solution a step further by focusing on how to accelerate the UK’s transition to a circular economy for flexible plastic packaging through exploring the infrastructure, investment and policy changes required to recycle these plastics at scale.

The objective is to enable the UK to recycle up to 400,000 tonnes of post-consumer flexible packaging by 2030, with a particular focus on food content packaging to enable it to be recycled into new food content packaging.

FlexCircular will focus on several key questions, including:

• How much recycled flexible plastic might be needed by industry from 2030 onwards, and whether supply will meet demand
• What level of investment is required to build the necessary infrastructure?
• What type of recycling facilities will be required, using which technology (mechanical/chemical or new technology)?

 

The project is being delivered by a specially commissioned project team comprising Suez, CEFLEX, WRAP and RECOUP and supported by government agencies.

Having been at the forefront of the UK’s recycling revolution for over 50 years, Casepak remains passionate about improving and increasing recycling in the country. Having come so far over the years, the industry is now starting to focus on the harder materials to recycle, but which still have enormous volumes that can be saved from waste. FlexCircular is focusing on the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of waste annually that isn’t yet recycled, and Casepak is fully supportive of the initiative and aims to play as active a role as possible to help tackle this next challenge as we progress towards a circular economy.