CEFLEX News & Events

What will the flexible packaging value chain need to look like by 2030 to meet recycled content and recycling rate targets required in European legislation and deliver the circular economy?

CEFLEX has developed a unique understanding of flexible packaging material flows, design and secondary markets to help inform policy decisions on PPWR secondary legislation.

Graham Houlder, CEFLEX coordinator, explains how delivering quality, quantity and price of recycled content for new and existing end markets is a core component of the circular economy and in shaping the initiative’s new recycling strategy

A circular economy for flexible packaging requires more end markets for recycled materials along with value chains that prioritise consistent quality of post-consumer recyclate, according to James Marshall, CEFLEX’s end market expert.

On the journey towards CEFLEX’s ‘Mission Circular’, our collective understanding and actions is normally measured in small increments; but recent months have seen just the opposite.

Governments, NGOs and businesses at the forefront of pushing for global rules to reduce plastic pollution meet for a decisive 4th round of intergovernmental negotiations 23-29 April in Ottawa, Canada.

EU legislation happening now will be critical in shaping Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for decades to come – and international best practice and progress on EPR could be undermined, with fees allocated to ‘public revenue’ rather than directly supporting required collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure.

Sandra Beckamp, Managing Director at Institut cyclos-HTP GmbH, discusses how a unique and in-depth Near-Infrared (NIR) study showed how different designs of flexible packaging affect recognition and sortability.

A major international collaboration to provide independent, scientific data linked to design, sortability and mechanical recyclability of flexible packaging has published its first report – with a focus on Near Infrared (NIR) technology.

As negotiations begin to evolve from a focus on process to shaping final content, #MissionCircular looks at some key issues.

Online tool gives valuable guidance to designers, packaging technologists, customers and suppliers of flexible packaging – helping them collaborate and innovate throughout the design process.

CEFLEX and partners are conducting a multi-country compositional analysis to research the type and amount of flexible packaging and rigid plastic packaging in the post-consumer waste stream. The research is providing valuable data to understand the collection, sorting and recycling infrastructure needed in each country.

Working together, legislation and industry can transform the plastics packaging value chain – making significant steps in recyclability and use of recycled content. Separate collection of packaging waste, product design, infrastructure and a strong internal market will be key.

CEFLEX is seeking harmonised and mandatory design criteria and sustainably funded systems for collection, sorting and recycling of plastic packaging that include flexibles from the outset.

The Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX) delegation is bringing its technical expertise in flexible packaging and material circularity to help inform the negotiations and accelerate the global transition to a circular economy.