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Flexible Packaging: Hard to Recycle, but Green

Flexible packaging is a defensible choice in the era of sustainability.

Flexible Packaging

For the purposes of this article, flexible packaging means non-rigid materials forming primary packages (e.g. pouches and bags). The principal materials are paper, foil, and film. It’s their varying, multilayer combinations that make flexible packaging a recycling challenge. That’s an easy concession to make, though. Recyclability is only one determinant of the sustainability of flexible packaging. From a systems perspective, flexible packaging has sustainability bona fides.

A criticism of flexible packaging concerns the difficulty of separating the layers for subsequent recycling. The reality, however, is that the layers are supposed to be difficult to separate. Co-extruded and laminated structures, for example, rely on the combined contributions of their layers. If the layers were easily separable, the structure could not perform its purposes. Bonding is an inherent trait of multilayer flexible packaging and must be reflected in any effort to increase recyclability.

Flexible packaging that incorporates film is criticized because the film is sourced from non-renewable petroleum. The film, most often there to allow heat-sealing, can serve additional purposes, such as a moisture barrier and a tie layer. Again, not to be ignored is the issue of performance, or being suitable for a given application. So-called bio-plastics are not necessarily the solution. They don’t match petro-plastics in performance, and their use wouldn’t address layers’ being difficult to separate.

Yet another criticism is that flexible packaging’s low recycling rates don’t support landfill diversion. But that doesn’t mean it’s not sustainable. Different end-of-life options exist because no single one has across-the-board practicability. A circular economy and a zero-waste society are worthwhile ideals. However, during the interim, optimal use should be made of all options.

Deflection of criticisms only goes so far in defending the sustainability of flexible packaging. Discussion has to address specific examples of what flexible packaging brings to the sustainability table. Packaging is a systems concept, wherein trade-offs are made among interrelated components for an optimal end-result. Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA)—widely accepted as a tool for determining sustainability—is definable in the same way. Sustainability, LCA teaches, is the net result of the ways and extents that a given subject impacts the environment.

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