The Materials Recovery For the Future (MRFF) consortium today released a new pilot research report demonstrating the successful collection, separation and preparation for recycling of flexible plastic packaging (FPP). The pilot, the first of its kind in the United States, was performed in partnership with J.P. Mascaro & Sons at the TotalRecycle Material Recovery Facility (MRF) located in Birdsboro, Penn., and underwritten by the MRFF.
“Approximately 12 billion pounds of FPP are consumed annually in the U.S., and it’s one of the fastest growing consumer packaging formats, but collecting, sorting, recycling and reintroducing this material back into the marketplace as new products requires a comprehensive approach to ensure that these materials don’t end up in landfills,” said Brent Heist, MRFF Steering Committee Co-Chair; Section Head – Packaging Sustainability, P&G.
The report, “Flexible Packaging Recycling in Material Recovery Facilities Pilot” prepared by Resource Recycling Systems (RRS) demonstrates that with adequate optical sorting capacity and peripherals, FPP can be efficiently captured in a large single-stream MRF and processed into a commodity bale, known as rFlex, for reuse in a variety of markets while diverting plastic from landfills.
The report also identifies more than a dozen end-market opportunities for the captured FPP. Building envelope products like roofing materials represent the highest volume and most immediate end market opportunities. Other high-volume opportunities for using rFlex are pallets and railroad ties, where recycled plastic can serve as a more durable alternative to traditional wood.
Within one year of installing FPP sortation equipment at the TotalRecycle MRF, four of the five sortation performance goals established for the pilot demonstration were achieved, and the program continues to progress towards achieving the fifth goal.