Industry-led consortium trials household collection and recycling of flexible plastics

Flexible Plastic Fund, a collaborative fund by the industry to help improve flexible plastic recycling, today launched a pilot scheme for household collections and recycling of flexible plastic packaging.

Billed as the largest of its type in the UK, the £2.9m FlexCollect project will run for the next three years, implementing a series of pilots through 2022 to 2025, working with local councils.

The project is co-funded by the Flexible Plastic Fund, Defra, UKRI’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge (SSPP) and Zero Waste Scotland, with participating local authorities financially supported to roll out and operate pilot kerbside collections.

The pilot is being managed by a consortium comprising the project co-funders, Ecosurety, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, RECOUP and WRAP, while a cross-section of industry stakeholders including Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), National Association of Waste Disposal Officers (NAWDO), Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and Environmental Services Assocation (ESA) are also involved to ensure the views of all parts of the value chain involved in the collection and recycling of this material are considered.

Recycling flexible plastic is a considerable challenge: it represented 22 per cent of all UK consumer plastic packaging in 2020 but only 8 per cent was recycled. Last month government announced the introduction of recyclable plastic film and flexible packaging collections for households across the UK by March 2027.

Commenting on the initiative, Resources and Waste Minister Jo Churchill said the project will provide ‘valuable evidence’ to support the government proposals.

“Plastic films and flexible packaging make up a huge proportion of our waste and we all want to see more of this material recycled. Our plans to introduce consistency in recycling and encourage more recyclable packaging through extended producer responsibility will significantly reduce the amount of plastic polluting our natural environment,” she said.

The Flexible Plastic Fund’s project is expected to provide a unique opportunity for government, local authorities, packaging producers and the waste industry to build vital understanding of how to incorporate flexibles into existing collections across different geographies, demographics and collection formats.

The data and insights provided will be published to help support local authorities introducing new collections, as well as stimulate the development of end markets and domestic reprocessing infrastructure.

“Alongside our work on front of store collections with retailers and recyclers, FPF FlexCollect will enable us to deepen and accelerate understanding of the flexible plastics recycling chain and its complexities through the lens of kerbside collections. It is a great opportunity for our members to get really involved and help to make flexible plastics recycling a reality quicker,” commented Gareth Morton, Discovery Manager at Ecosurety and FPF FlexCollect project lead for the Flexible Plastic Fund.

Louise Stigant, UK managing director of Mondelēz International, one of the founding partners of Flexible Plastic Fund, added: “Increasing the recycling rates of our flexible packaging and creating a circular economy for this material so our packaging does not end its life in the environment is a priority for us and something we know is important to our consumers. We are excited to take this next step on this journey as part of the FlexCollect initiative.”

The project will run in two stages. An initial ‘Pioneer Stage’ will involve pilots at four local authorities, with a further five local authorities joining them for an ‘Industrialisation Stage’ six months later, building on the knowledge gained during the first stage.

Cheltenham Borough Council is the first local authority to join the Pioneer stage, with the other local authorities currently being recruited.