Flexible plastic packaging easy to recycle?

The Flexible Plastic Fund (FPF) finds that flexible plastic packaging can be incorporated into all collection service types with relative ease.

It claims this can be via collection bags or loose in dry mixed recycling when appropriate sorting infrastructure is available.

The FPF published its report on how to integrate flexible plastic packaging into existing kerbside recycling collections at the beginning of September 2025.

It estimates that more than 150,000t of flexible plastic packaging is expected to be collected from households in 2027, increasing each year to an estimated 200,000tpa by 2030.

The report consolidates learnings from its FlexCollect trials, which took more than three years, across 10 UK local authorities, with more than 400t of flexible plastic packaging collected from 160,000 households.

It is for local authorities, government, the waste management and recycling industry, and plastic reprocessors preparing for mandatory flexible plastic collections under Simpler Recycling from 2027.

In contrast, the North London Waste Authority (NLWA) warns that the UK lacks the recycling infrastructure to cope with flexible plastics, such as crisp packets, bubble wrap and bread bags - once kerbside collections become mandatory.

Even though projections are that by 2030 only 10%, or 200,000t of 1.7mlnt, of flexible plastics on the UK market each year will be captured by households.

NLWA Chair, Cllr Clyde Loakes says, 'Unless the production of flexible plastics is greatly reduced in tandem with investment in infrastructure, much of the flexible plastic collected from people’s homes will end up in a warehouse or on a container ship somewhere. The government and business must step up to prevent disillusionment among the public, which may end up negatively impacting their overall recycling efforts.'

He urged for producers to redesign packaging, cut volumes and to move to sustainable alternatives.

The NLWA is calling for the government to mandate higher proportions of recycled content in new products to stimulate increased market demand. And to reform the Plastic Packaging Recovery Notes system, which it says currently favours exports rather than domestic processing for recycling.

Commenting directly on the FPF FlexCollect report, Cllr Loakes says it had little representation from densely populated areas with a high proportion of flats and shared housing. He notes additional challenges in those urban areas for rolling out recycling services. 'For instance, contamination is often worse in communal recycling bins; and high population turnover in these areas often impacts reliable participation.'

The NLWA adds that the report suggests that a successful flexible plastic collection service may require the distribution of dedicated bags to residents for the separation of this material, and that 'Government must already support already stretched local authorities with extra funding to cover the additional costs', comments Loakes.