Mapping flexible packaging in a Circular Economy
This research project, conducted by the Technical University of Delft in collaboration with several companies, concludes that flexible packaging clearly adds significant value in a circular economy prior to it becoming waste. Flexible packaging typically uses less resources than alternative functionally equivalent packaging formats.
This added value can be further improved if more flexible packaging is collected, recycled and the resources usefully redeployed. This is specifically due to its highly efficient use of materials (i.e. resource efficiency) enabling it to prevent packaging material usage whilst optimising food waste reduction. Most often this waste prevention benefit translated into both an economic benefit and a reduced environmental impact.
One of the conclusions is that, based on available data in two European countries, approximately 80% of the flexible packaging is mono-material, making it potentially recyclable via the existing infrastructure for recycling conventional plastics. Provided it can be effectively sorted out from the remaining c.a. 20% multi-material flexible packaging.