In a statement, the company called the closure of the plastic film processing plant temporary, amid challenging macroeconomic conditions. | Courtesy of Natura PCR
Hauler WM has shuttered its Natura PCR plastic film processing operations in Texas only months after starting up a new $150 million plant, amid lackluster market conditions.
Production of film and flexible packaging is growing while recycling rates remain low. | K M Hargreaves / Shutterstock
While film and flexible packaging represent about 34% of the total US plastic packaging industry by weight, abysmal recycling rates are requiring adjustments across the entire system. Continue Reading
Charter Next Generation will use chemically recycled polyethylene produced at Shell’s plant in Monaca, Pennsylvania, in its flexible packaging.| Photo courtesy Shell Polymers
Editor’s Note: Chemical recycling will be featured in sessions at the 2026 Plastics Recycling Conference, Feb. 23-25 in San Diego, California. Register now for the best rates.
Specialty film producer Charter Next Generation has agreed to buy polyethylene (PE) produced by Shell Polymers using chemically recycled feedstock, for use in high-performance flexible packaging. Continue Reading
Multiple lawsuits over the past five years have challenged claims over the recyclability of the company’s plastic garbage bags. | ADragan/Shutterstock
Reynolds Consumer Products is facing a new lawsuit from the Arizona attorney general regarding its Hefty and Great Value brand bags. Continue Reading
The $4.25 million grant to upgrade FCC Environmental’s Houston MRF will enable better recovery of plastic film. | Photo Courtesy of FCC
Hauler FCC Environmental Services has been awarded a $4.25 million grant from The Recycling Partnership (TRP) to improve film and flexible plastics recovery at its materials recovery facility (MRF) in Houston, representing TRP’s largest single grant to a MRF. Continue Reading
A coalition including General Mills, Mars, PepsiCo and other major brands will focus on states with EPR programs for packaging, starting with California. | Noppuns/Shutterstock
Several global brand owners have joined forces to create the US Flexible Film Initiative (USFFI), a nonprofit membership organization helping to advance scalable solutions to recycle flexible plastic packaging.
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The two organizations maintain the industry standard for acceptable materials and contaminants, and the specifications serve as a reference tool for MRFs and other recyclers. | Photo Courtesy Jared Paben
The Association of Plastic Recyclers and the Recycled Materials Association have updated specifications for post-consumer plastic bales, following a collaborative development process between the two organizations. Continue Reading
The Otsego ReUse Center in Oneota, New York, collects film recycling through the Grassroots Movement, an initiative by film recycler NexTrex. | Photo courtesy of NexTrex.
Recycling collection site Otsego ReUse Center is bringing plastic film recycling to New York, with help from the Grassroots Movement initiative by film collector NexTrex. Continue Reading
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste announced a shift in focus from small projects to wide-scale efforts to improve recycling on a national scale. | spwidoff/Shutterstock
Five years after its billion-dollar founding, the Alliance to End Plastic Waste is taking what it learned from one-off projects and shifting its attention to country-scale change. Continue Reading
A California initiative and a nationwide study examine the accessibility of film recycling programs, and a Canadian city begins collection. | Dmitry Markov152/Shutterstock
Most Americans have access to a store drop-off site for film plastics, according to a new study by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Continue Reading