Giving flexible plastic value
Why the fund is needed
The Flexible Plastic Fund wants to incentivise flexible plastic recycling as quickly as possible. In 2020, the UK produced over 309,000* tonnes of flexible plastic packaging, which is about 22%* of all UK consumer plastic waste. Only 8%* of flexible plastic is currently collected from home for recycling and the Fund wants this to significantly improve. To achieve this, Ecosurety and the founding partners created a concept to involve everyone in the flexible plastic supply chain.
*RECOUP Household Plastics Collection Survey 2021
Driving change
Creating solutions to shared challenges across an entire industry requires successful collaboration. That is why the Flexible Plastic Fund is working with retailers, recyclers, local authorities and manufacturers using flexible plastic packaging to create an efficient system that incentivises high-quality recycling of a material that has historically gone to waste. The Fund is driving towards the long-term ambitions of ensuring flexible plastic recycling is UK based, fully circular and facilitated by household recycling collections.
Who's involved?
The Flexible Plastic Fund is a collaborative fund giving value to hard-to-recycle flexible plastics so they are properly recycled. Managed by B Corp certified producer responsibility compliance scheme Ecosurety, and supported by environmental charity Hubbub, the Fund was established in May 2021 by five founding partners: Mars UK, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever. Since then it has been joined by a further 15 renowned UK consumer goods’ manufacturers.
In collaboration with manufacturers, retailers, local authorities and recyclers, the Fund intends to improve flexible plastic recycling and reduce plastic pollution by giving the material a stable value. At the same time, the Fund is working to develop collections to increase the supply of recycled plastic so the industry becomes more ‘circular’ and meets the UK plastic packaging tax obligations. This will motivate investment in much needed jobs and infrastructure to make flexible plastic recycling financially sustainable in the UK.
