The Materials Recovery For the Future (MRFF) consortium has released a report on a pilot curbside recycling program for flexible plastic packaging (FPP). The studied pilot program diverted over 2.7 million pounds of FPP from landfills.
The report is the third and final report of the project which evaluated TotalRecycle's material recycling facility (MRF) curbside recycling program. The evaluation ran from August 2020 to the end of 2022.
The pilot program studied the nearly 60,000 households in Berks Country, P.A., that could put film plastic like plastic bags and wraps in curbside bins along with other recyclables.
The primary finding of the report was that it's practical and viable to recycle FPP through curbside collection.
The report provides recommendations to scale up FPP curbside recycling, including providing more recycling bins to residents so more material can be collected, and investing in MRF upgrades to automate sorting to capture more FPP.
"Plastic films and wraps are lightweight, thin, and effective at preserving food and protecting packaged goods with little material," says Shari Jackson, director of plastics sustainability at the American Chemistry Council. "Curbside recycling of plastic films should be easy for consumers in order to improve recycling rates."
The report also finds that the plastic recycled from the collected film reduced greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent or more compared to products made with virgin materials.
"There's a significant opportunity for MRFs, flexible packaging manufacturers, and the paper industry to work together on equipment upgrades to increase the quantity and quality of PCR supply for post-consumer recycled content products," says Susan Graff, vice president of global corporate sustainability at RRS.
Read the final report and learn more about this project here.
