<\/p>\n
The Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX) joint initiative estimates that 2.5 million tonnes of consumer flexible packaging material will be needed by 2030 to meet the recycled content regulations under the EU’s Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).<\/p>\n
In its report, Secondary Use of Recycled Content: Flexible Packaging Highlights, the group predicts that this requirement will increase to 5.9 million tonnes by 2035, when a target recycling rate of 55% should apply to all plastic packaging formats.<\/p>\n
Between 2025 and 2035, an additional 440,000 tonnes per year (tpa) of flexible packaging made from recycled materials would need to be adopted annually to stay on track for PPWR compliance, the study says.<\/p>\n
This includes recycled polyethylene, polypropylene and mixed polyolefins.<\/p>\n
CEFLEX is also looking at the wider range of end-uses of outer packaging, such as construction films, rubbish bags, transport packaging and horticultural products, as possible resources for recycling.<\/p>\n
Including these sectors, the total potential demand for recycled materials in 2030 will be 4.3 million tons.<\/p>\n
According to the organization, packaging alone is unlikely to be able to accept the full volume of recycled material needed to increase recycling rates.<\/p>\n
CEFLEX Director of External Relations Arne Jost said: “Achieving the recycled content targets is not just about more recycling. It depends on whether the material can be transferred to real applications, at the right quality and at scale.”<\/p>\n
“This work helps identify where these markets are and what they require in practice.”<\/p>\n