One of the fundamental elements of the Circular Economy is recycling, and its role in materials permanence within the production cycle. According to PMMI's new market intelligence report, "2019 Trends and Advances in Food Packaging and Processing," almost two of every three food manufacturing companies are looking for recyclable packaging solutions, and the vast majority of participants in the study developed at least one major change in their packaging materials to increase recycling facility.
Strong obstacles, however, impede the recyclability of many materials for flexible packaging and their use in manufacturing products similar or different from the original ones. In this same PMMI report, a packaging engineer from a multinational beverage manufacturer stated: "Flexible packaging with barrier films cannot be recycled, so we need more innovative solutions."
