Editor’s Note: Film and flexible packaging will be featured in sessions at the 2026 Plastics Recycling Conference, Feb. 23-25 in San Diego, California. Register now!
Two industry groups this week released reports on advancing collection and recycling of plastic film and flexible packaging, materials that are among the most challenging post-consumer materials to recycle and are often targeted by localized restrictions.
Plastic shopping bags are on the front lines of the global battle to reduce plastic pollution, with many localities adopting strict bans and numerous lawsuits challenging recyclability claims.
Pact: End markets are most critical
This week the US Plastics Pact released a framework for advancing circularity for film and flexible packaging, outlining system-level actions while emphasizing that improving recycling outcomes is secondary to reducing packaging and scaling reuse.
The paper notes that developing end markets is the most critical lever for system change. “Collecting more material without strong, reliable demand for recycled film risks simply shifting material without delivering real circular outcomes,” the Pact said in a statement.
In the paper, the Pact also stresses that film collection strategy must reflect community size, infrastructure, local policy and market dynamics to succeed. This requires multiple approaches in tandem with continued innovation – from packaging manufacturers, users and policymakers alike – to make film more sustainable.
“Film and flexible packaging are critical to how products move through our economy and that means solving for their circularity is both necessary and complex,” said Crystal Bayliss, interim executive director of the Pact. “This framework reflects the real work happening across the system today and provides a clear, shared path forward.”
Numerous municipalities, MRF operators, brand owners, film suppliers and recyclers provided the real-world expertise required to inform the paper. “By pairing that on-the-ground experience with insights from outside collection experts, we were able to clearly identify where the gaps are, and which solutions are most likely to work in specific settings,” said Bayliss. The result is a practical framework rooted in real-world conditions.”
Global alliance spotlights necessary levers
The global Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW) report “The Challenges and Solutions for Flexible Plastic Packaging Waste” asserts that segregated waste collection and advanced secondary sorting are key to improving film recycling rates and quality of recyclate.
The report lists five critical components for addressing plastic waste from flexible packaging in both Europe and North America:
- Improving collection and sorting by use of digital watermarks and AI-based recognition to achieve homogeneous, high-quality recycling feedstock
- Enabling end-market demand via extended producer responsibility schemes and PCR content mandates
- De-risking investment through policy levers including tax incentives, subsidies and special financing options
- Establishing design-for-recyclability guidelines to harmonize material choices and reduce barriers to recycling.
- Implementing eco-modulated EPR fees to reward recyclable packaging that also is cost-effective to process.
“Solutions to improve the end-of-life management of plastic products already exist,” said Jacob Duer, AEPW president and CEO. “Combined with industry action and regulatory momentum, there is a real opportunity to improve the rate and quality of flexible films recycling in an accelerated timeframe.”
He added, “The Alliance to End Plastic Waste will focus on demonstrating solutions that deliver systems change. Driving this will require coordinated action across the system, including identifying clear end-market opportunities for recyclates. In turn, this will make a viable business case for the investment necessary to evolve infrastructure for collection, sorting, and recycling.”
Last year AEPW shifted its focus to effecting systemic change, after completing dozens of small-scale projects over its first five years. Founded in 2019, the group includes international companies throughout plastics value chains, such as Amcor, Braskem, Dow, Gemini, LyondellBasell, Milliken, Nova Chemicals, Procter & Gamble, Tomra and TotalEnergies.
Following discussions on the group’s direction, members decided to focus on film and flexible packaging as a thematic program, after considering medical plastics and electronic scrap, due to its global status as a challenging material.
