Flexible Plastic Fund FlexCollect Project Final Report Released in Parliament
The Flexible Plastic Fund (FPF) released the FlexCollect final report in Parliament on 1 September in an event sponsored by Amanda Hack MP and attended by Mary Creagh CBE MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at Defra.
Titled ‘The future of recycling flexible plastic packaging in the UK’, it is a blueprint which details how flexible plastics can be collected and recycled.
Led by RECOUP members Ecosurety, SUEZ recycling and recovery UK, WRAP and RECOUP, and sponsored by the FPF – a collaboration of large food and consumer goods manufacturers – and supported by Defra, UK Research and Innovation’s Smart Sustainable Plastic Packaging Challenge delivered by Innovate UK, and Zero Waste Scotland, it is the largest trial of its kind in the UK to date.
The three-year project piloted different collection and processing methods for flexible plastics across 10 local authorities and 160,000 households across England and collected over 400 tonnes of flexible plastics.
RECOUP were integral to delivering the project, leading on the material composition testing and end markets research and support, with Steve Morgan and Veronika Pluharova extensively involved alongside support from the RECOUP team.
Key findings were:
- Collections are easy to implement
Flexibles can be collected with minimal disruption to crew schedules or vehicle capacity. Collection bags significantly increased participation and reduced contamination and litter.
- Collections are popular with the public
Residents valued the scheme, with 89% satisfaction among surveyed householders, showing they are ready and willing to participate.
- High-quality material is collected
90% of collected material was target flexible plastic and very clean demonstrating good sorting behaviour and low contamination.
- No headaches for recycling facilities
All participating Materials Recovery Facilities accepted and processed bagged flexible plastic with little operational impact.
- Recovery rates are high
80% to 100% of collected material was successfully recovered, highlighting the potential for real circularity in flexible plastics.
However, while the pilot proved that collection, sorting and public participation is clearly achievable, the absence of UK-based recycling infrastructure will present a challenge in the future and the report calls for an acceleration in investment in UK-based reprocessing capacity and the development of robust end markets for recycled flexible plastic packaging.
To explore the project findings and recommendations, please visit:
FPF FlexCollect Report 2025 — Flexible Plastic Fund
There is a 191-page full report, a 10-page summary and highlights to share on social media channels and websites.
This also includes collection guidance and templates from WRAP.
The press release can be found on the Suez website:
If you would like to discuss anything to do with FlexCollect, please contact Steve Morgan (steve.morgan@recoup.org).