Addressing Favorable and Challenging Flexible Plastic Packaging Waste Flows: A Material Flow Analysis

The majority of post-consumer flexible plastic packaging (FPP) in the United States ends up in landfills and incinerators. This represents a significant material loss because FPP, also referred to as plastic films or foils, comprises up to half of all plastic packaging. Since FPP encompasses a diverse range of products with varying recycling potentials, improving material recovery rates requires a detailed understanding of the composition and quantities of used films. This study quantifies post-consumer FPP flows in the US for 2021 and estimates the fraction most suitable for mechanical recycling. We conducted a material flow analysis (MFA) by reconciling publicly available data on packaging film generation and recycling from the US and comparable economies. We then categorized post-consumer FPP into three broad categories based on factors affecting the quality of the resulting mechanically recycled material. Our analysis reveals that only 3%–8% of the estimated 5–15 million metric tonnes of post-consumer film were recycled in 2021. Furthermore, at most 40% of the FPP could be readily mechanically recyclable, while up to half would be deemed non-recoverable due to techno-economic constraints. The actual proportions of challenging-to-recycle and non-recoverable FPP might be even higher, underscoring the need for updated studies on film generation and waste composition to assess the feasibility of scaling up nationwide film recycling.