We’ve joined forces with industry peers to launch a £1M fund help make flexible plastic recycling economically viable for recyclers and easier for consumers.
The Flexible Plastic Fund (FPF) is a first for the UK and will be led by producer compliance scheme, Ecosurety with support from environmental charity, Hubbub. Its goal is to improve flexible plastic recycling and reduce plastic pollution by giving flexible plastic a guaranteed minimum value per tonne, enabling increased supply of recycled plastic towards a circular economy.
We’ve come together with Mars, Mondelēz International, Nestlé and Unilever to finance the Fund and incentivize recyclers to process flexible plastic, by guaranteeing minimum value of £100 per tonne of recycled product. This is intended to motivate investment in much needed jobs and infrastructure to make flexible plastic recycling a financially sustainable system in the UK.
With just 16% of UK local authorities currently offering household collection of flexible plastics, collection and recycling rates remain low – only 6% of flexible packaging is current recycled. The long-term ambition of the Fund is to drive progress towards creating a circular, UK based flexible plastic recycling market that allows for widescale collection of flexible packaging as part of kerbside recycling.
Sainsbury’s and Waitrose have already signed up to support the initiative by hosting flexible plastic collection points in selected stores across the UK. This will make it easier for consumers to drop off their crisp packets, pet food pouches, sweet wrappers, bread bags, fruit and veg packaging and more, all together.
The initiative will also provide fully audited transparency – at least 80% of the plastics collected will be recycled in the UK – rising to 100% by 2023. All material will be fully traceable and tracked from the collector through to new products.
PepsiCo is committed to play its part in helping to change the way society makes, uses, and disposes of plastics, and with this latest initiative we are helping to make sustainable plastics a reality. You can learn more about our ambitions here.
“We are committed to helping build a circular future for packaging and are proud to be part of the Flexible Plastic Fund which aims to incentivize recyclers to recycle flexibles. The FPF is a great example of how brand owners can drive non-competitive collaboration across the value chain to deliver real impact.
“As this scales and more retailers, manufacturers and recyclers come on board, we aim to further increase recycling rates for flexible plastic across the UK. We look forward to seeing initial results and driving much-need progress towards a truly circular economy for flexible packaging.”
Archana Jagannathan, Senior Director Sustainable Packaging, PepsiCo
“Plastic pollution poses a major threat to our precious environment and wildlife, and that’s why the Government is committed to eliminating all avoidable plastic waste by 2042.
“Through our plans for consistent recycling collections, extended producer responsibility for packaging manufacturers, a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, and a world-leading plastic packaging tax, we will go further and faster to recycle more plastic and throw less away. I very much welcome the new Flexible Plastic Fund which will help to recycle more plastic, and I encourage retailers, manufacturers and recyclers to lend their support.”
Rebecca Pow, Environment Minister