The Recycling Partnership invests in Texas flexible packaging recovery plant

The Recycling Partnership has granted US$4.25 million to the FCC Environmental Services’ materials recovery facility (MRF) in Houston, US, to improve its ability to recycle film and flexible packaging (FFP). 

The grant, supported by PepsiCo, Kraft Heinz, and the Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition, aims to enable the MRF to retrofit recovered FFP, tackle cross-contamination of other recyclable commodities, create high-quality bales, and present key data for a roadmap to scale FFP recycling.

“Plastic film and flexible packaging are widely used but have historically been excluded from curbside recycling due to processing limitations and contamination concerns,” says John Rabon, vice president for Recycling at FCC.

“This upgrade represents an important step forward, offering Houston residents new opportunities to recycle more and reduce what ends up in the landfill. While still early, the initiative is designed to strengthen material recovery for the City of Houston and provide learnings that can help guide scalable, sustainable solutions across the country.”

Meeting US EPR requirements 

According to The Recycling Partnership, investments to build recycling infrastructure for FFP are critical as EPR legislations have already been passed in seven US states, including California, “the world’s fourth-largest economy, whose requirements will impact packaging supply chains nationwide.”

Partnerships with companies like PepsiCo and Kraft Heinz, and facilities like FCC, are essential steps toward creating scalable solutions to help the industry meet EPR compliance requirements, The Recycling Partnership adds. 

The FCC Environmental Services’ materials recovery facility in Houston, Texas (Image credit: FCC).Kate Davenport, chief impact officer at The Recycling Partnership, notes: “To meet these mandates effectively, investment in the supply chain to turn FFP into new products is critical.”

“That is why we founded the Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition and its new CalFFlex initiative, aiming to address the longstanding challenges of FFP collection, enhance effective processing, and drive demand for these recycled materials.”

Davenport says that by awarding The Recycling Partnership’s largest single grant to an individual MRF, the organization is developing solutions to demonstrate how effective capture and higher quality at this stage of the value chain could provide feedstock for growing markets to make recycled products. This effort could further generate key data to inform compliance pathways and focused interventions.

Tackling end-of-life challenges

Rachael Lawrence, senior director of Sustainability at PepsiCo Foods North America, adds: “PepsiCo is actively seeking ways to improve the recycling system so that more of our packaging can be recycled.”

She says that while flexible packaging has many food safety and consumer benefits, its end-of-life options remain a collective challenge for industry and governments to unlock. 

“By investing in the Film and Flexibles Recycling Coalition and the FCC MRF project, we are helping to develop and provide proof points for successful FFP recycling that can be applied at other facilities across the US, allowing more of this packaging to be recycled at scale.”

“This work, alongside our other sustainability initiatives and support for enabling policies such as well-designed EPR, are part of our longstanding efforts to deliver sustainable packaging solutions for our customers and the planet.”

Meanwhile, Linda Roman, director of Packaging R&D at Kraft Heinz, says: “We acknowledge the significant impact of packaging on the environment and are designing sustainable solutions that work within the entire packaging ecosystem.”

Roman argues flexible films play a crucial role in protecting Kraft Heinz’s products and preventing food waste, however, current recycling infrastructure is still not enough to handle such materials at scale. 

“To address this challenge, we’re intensifying our focus on infrastructure development and investing in organizations like The Recycling Partnership to build a future where all packaging is easily collected and recycled. We’re starting here in Houston and see this as a model for cities all across the US.”