US Companies Launch Initiative to Improve Flexible Packaging Recycling
A coalition of companies has launched the US Flexible Film Initiative (USFFI), which aims to advance scalable solutions for recycling flexible packaging.
A 13 August statement from USFFI said that while its members are developing designs for recyclability and increasing the use of recycled content, they recognise investment is needed to accelerate end-of-life solutions for flexible packaging such as bags, wraps and pouches.
It therefore aims to commit to multi-year contracts with material recovery facilities (MRFs), flexible plastic processors and recyclers. It will initially focus on California, with the potential to expand to other states with extended producer responsibility (EPR) programmes.
Feliks Bezati, global circular packaging director at Mars, said: "By directly funding MRFs and recyclers through USFFI, we aim to prove that flexible packaging can be recycled at scale and become a meaningful part of a circular economy."
The initiative said it would launch a request for information to interested MRFs, processors, and recyclers in California.
The state’s packaging EPR law (SB 54) does not currently classify flexible and film items as recyclable, but the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) updates the recyclability criteria each year when new data becomes available.
However, at a 19 August rally urging action on the state’s EPR regulations, Martin Bourque, an executive at the Alliance of Mission-Based Recyclers (AMBR), was critical of flexible packaging’s inclusion in kerbside collections bound for MRFs.
"Brands, if you want to keep selling these pouches, wrappers and bags as packaging, then pay for making them truly circular through reusables, sustainable substitutions, deposit return systems, buy back, drop off, or return to sender programmes, or other alternative collection methods," said Bourque. "This is what the law demands. Kerbside recycling is not the answer to your plastic packaging crisis."
The founding members of USFFI are: Hill’s Pet Nutrition, General Mills, Mars, Mondelēz International, Nestlé and PepsiCo. The initiative said it is open to additional brands and retailers that wish to be members.