Everyday Flexible Plastic Packaging Recycling Assembly Briefing Paper: Organisational Challenges, Priorities, and Required Responses

It is estimated that 215 billion items of flexible plastic packaging, equating to 895 thousand tonnes, are placed on the UK market each year1. This placement is, in part, due to product lightweighting and part of well-meaning agendas to shrink carbon footprints and reduce the use of plastics. However, while flexibles represent 27% of UK consumer plastic packaging, only an estimated 7% are recycled annually2. Moreover, those that are recycled tend to go into bin bags, agricultural wrap, and plastic lumber, thus failing to achieve the higher closed loop principle of the circular economy. As acknowledged by industry and policy, the challenges run deep, cutting across packaging design, manufacturing, branding, retailing, waste management, collection, sorting, and reprocessing3. It is accepted that crosscutting responses are demanded. The ‘Everyday Flexible Plastic Packaging Recycling Assembly’ responds to this demand, providing a unique independent forum for in-depth professional knowledge exchange and development. It involves stakeholders from across the value chain, including representatives from small and medium-sized enterprises, multinational corporations, universities, local government, third sector and other organisations, with the shared objective of helping to accelerate sustainable transitions concerning the design, use, and recovery of flexible plastic packaging across the UK.