The US Flexible Film Initiative (USFFI) has awarded its first offtake contracts, to two California MRF operators and two film reclaimers, supporting up to eight loads per month of discarded flexible plastics.
MRF operators Valemi and GreenWaste process residential recyclables in California, and the reclaimers are EFS-plastics and Merlin Plastics. USFFI said it has moved more than 3 million pounds of flexible plastic packaging from MRF collection programs to US and Canadian reclaimers for processing into a variety of commodities. After those loads were completed, the group set up longer-term offtake agreements.
USFFI is a brand-led initiative to advance processing of hard-to-recycle plastic film and flexible packaging. Full members include General Mills, Hill’s, Mars, Mondelēz, Nestlé and Pepsico.
Now the nonprofit has issued two new requests for information (RFIs): One is for California MRFs, and the other is for reclaimers and secondary processors able to take material from those MRFs. USFFI is offering operational funding for:
- Sorting and baling flexible film and packaging
- Buying mixed flexible film as feedstock for flake, pellet or finished product
- Transparent reporting on material quality, tonnage and recovery rates
Eadaoin Quinn, sustainable packaging senior manager at Mars, Inc., urged other brands to join. “The momentum USFFI has built is real, and it will only grow stronger with broader participation across the industry,” she said.
Creating an on-purpose system
USFFI is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was started in California but has the potential to expand to other states as packaging EPR programs develop.
“Moving material successfully is an important first step, but the goal is to create a system that can keep that material moving,” said Maite Quinn-Richards, USFFI executive director. (Quinn-Richards also is president of Resource Recycling, Inc., publisher of Plastics Recycling Update.) “These long-term agreements create greater certainty around supply, demand and economics, and the more companies that participate, the stronger that system becomes.”
The multi-year contracts cover MRFs, processors and recyclers. USFFI aims to create a system of on-purpose film collection alongside other curbside recyclables instead of being pulled out as contamination.
“The funding that USFFI provides ensures EFS can process flexible film packaging and supports the development of markets for this PCR resin,” said Martin Vogt, president and CEO of EFS-plastics.
Ricky Lopez, vice president of post-collections at GreenWaste, said the company is excited “to help lead the industry toward intentional recovery and recycling of flexible plastics.”
Kevin Kelly is CEO of converter Emerald Packaging, which was USFFI’s first associate member. He tied the program’s success to price. “It shows circularity is achievable when recyclers can sell the material at a profit,” he said.
