CEFLEX launches in-depth flexible plastic recycling study in UK and EU to drive 2025 circularity

18 Mar 2021 --- The Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX) is teaming up with key industry stakeholders to launch a series of studies into packaging waste in the UK and the EU. Preliminary findings from the UK show recyclable flexible plastics are often wasted and unreturned to the value chain.

The studies will look into the quantities and types of post-consumer flexible and rigid plastic packaging in the two main waste streams in which they are collected.

“This is the first time this level of data has been available on what flexible packaging is found in the post-consumer waste stream. The study will be used to inform all our activities going forward,” Liz Morrish, CEFLEX’s project workstream consultant, tells PackagingInsights.

The results will be used, she explains, to help players on the value chain develop more effective recycling systems by discovering the “missing pieces of the jigsaw.”

“CEFLEX stakeholders will get privileged insights and the results will become a key element of our workstreams investigating the business case, end markets and beyond. Beyond this, insights may be shared with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes to help pinpoint what is needed to go ‘circular.’”

Initiated by CEFLEX, the collaboration will be with other partners in the plastic packaging value chain: Polyolefin Circular Economy Platform (PCEP), Petcore Europe, Styrenics Circular Solutions and MORE Recycling.

It covers all types of consumer packaging found in today’s households – everything from wrappers, bags and pouches to bottles, trays and tubes – across key European markets.

Preliminary UK findings 
Currently, CEFLEX has only collected data in the UK, but has plans for further studies to start in the EU soon. 

“Most local authorities in the UK do not currently separately collect flexible packaging for recycling, so we expected to find a significant amount of recyclable flexibles in this waste stream,” says Morrish. CEFLEX is aiming to make all flexible plastic packaging circular in Europe by 2025.

During the study, 4595 kg of material was manually sorted and categorized at two sites, of which 3240 kg were residual waste, and 1355 kg were separately collected recyclables. 

Around 66.5 percent of flexible packaging found in the residual waste samples was categorized as recycle-ready mono-material – this includes PE, PP, PET, paper and aluminum.

Currently, the study concludes there is a significant amount of ready-to-recycle flexible packaging appearing in residual waste samples in the UK, where it is unlikely to be successfully returned to the economy and used again.

“There is a lot of activity in the UK to change household waste collection services, and flexible packaging will hopefully start to be collected separately for recycling by more local authorities in the near future,” continues Morrish. 

EU studies set for future 
Similar sample studies will be run in the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Poland and France this year. In these EU analyses, Morrish expects to see a different picture. 

Separate collection schemes for flexible plastics already exist. There will likely be lower amounts of recyclables left in the residual waste stream due to households making use of the streams. 

Consumer awareness and engagement must be key following the studies, she continues, to get households to sort their waste correctly and place the recyclable items in the right bin or bag. Research in EU countries will be conducted throughout this year.

Failure to some extent is inevitable, however. 

“Despite all our best efforts, we are likely to always find some recyclables, including flexible packaging, in the residual waste stream due to a complex mix of factors,” explains Morrish.

In some circumstances, better sorting of residual waste is needed before the incineration, energy recovery, or landfill phases so that recyclables can be effectively extracted.” 

“This is starting to happen in some countries and provides another opportunity to capture these previously ‘lost’ resources and materials.”

Long in the making 
Morrish explains that the studies are costly to run, and it has taken a lot of time to organize, despite CEFLEX planning for the study “for some time.”

“We saw the value in getting this very high level of detail as the data can help to answer so many of our circular economy questions. Our partners shared the same motivations and we agreed collaboration was the best approach.”

Local authorities or municipalities often carry out compositional analysis studies, so they can understand what amounts and types of waste are generated in their area and evaluate what infrastructure is needed, she continues. 

“However, these studies typically look at all types of waste in a stream rather than focusing on one particular type.”

By Louis Gore-Langton