The Flexible Plastic Fund – a coalition comprising Ecosurety, CEFLEX, RECOUP, WRAP, and more – has launched FlexCircular, an initiative intended to help the UK recycle up to 400,000 tonnes of post-consumer flexible packaging by 2030.
FlexCircular builds on the results of the Flexible Plastic Fund’s FlexCollect project, which set its sights on proving the feasibility of large-scale household collection for plastic packaging. The new initiative is expected to take the ‘next critical step’ towards recycling flexible plastics and achieving full circularity.
It will involve comprehensive research to assess the scale of investment needed to require 400,000 tonnes of flexible plastics, with a particular focus on recycling food-contact packaging back into food-contact packaging.
Aiming to drive recyclability and full-system circularity, the project expects to help the industry and policymakers answer the following questions:
- How much recycled flexible plastic might be needed by industry from 2030 onwards, and will supply meet demand?
- What types of recycling facilities (mechanical, chemical, or future technologies) may be needed in the UK, and at what capacity?
- What level of investment might be required to build this infrastructure?
- What are the costs and risks of continuing with ‘business as usual’ (using virgin plastics) and what conditions (mix of policies and incentives) may help to align the value chain to support UK recycling infrastructure investment?
Among the contributors to FlexCircular are a specially commissioned project team featuring Suez, CEFLEX, WRAP and RECOUP, working alongside the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), extended producer responsibility scheme administrator PackUK, the Welsh Government, and Zero Waste Scotland.
The project’s findings are set to be reported towards the end of this year.
“We’re delighted to build on the success of the FPF FlexCollect project and continue to work alongside experts in the industry to take flexible plastics recycling to the next level,” says Gareth Morton, discovery manager at Ecosurety. “FPF FlexCircular is about turning the proof of collections into a real, investable circular system.
“By understanding what the UK needs in terms of investment, infrastructure and policy, we can maximise the opportunity to recycle flexible plastics at scale, creating benefits for industry, consumers, and the environment alike.”
“The FlexCircular project represents a pivotal moment for flexible packaging in the UK,” continues Richard Akkermans, R&D Packaging Sustainability manager, Europe for Mondelēz International. “We’ve proven that collection at scale is possible – the next opportunity is to close the loop by investing in the recycling infrastructure to match.
“For the Flexible Plastic Fund, achieving circularity for food-contact flexible plastics isn’t just an ambition, it’s a necessity. This research aims to provide the roadmap the value chain needs to invest in the UK with confidence and deliver positive environmental outcomes for the future.”
The development comes after CEFLEX’s warning that EU Member States must source an additional 440,000 tonnes of post-consumer recyclate from flexible polyolefins annually to meet the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation’s recycled content targets. It argues that coordinated action across the value chain must develop both packaging and non-packaging end markets to use recycled material consistently – not just when market conditions favour it.
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste has also published a report outlining the technical and economic requirements of a 50,000-tonne-per-year advanced mechanical recycling plant for flexible plastics and identifying the conditions needed for commercial scaling. It builds on key learnings from the ValueFlex project, which was launched in 2022 by the Alliance to End Plastic Waste, CEFLEX, Roland Berger and HTP Engineering.
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