Transcript created by AI, there may be transcription errors.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Hello, I’m Anne Marie Mohan, senior editor of Packaging World. I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Pranav Goenka co-chair and senior advisor for advanced sorting and recycling solutions at the Alliance to End Plastic Waste. We discuss the organization’s latest report on unlocking scalable solutions for flexible film recycling as well as the progress of its U.S. Flexibles Program. I hope you enjoy the conversation. So, to begin, could you provide me with some background on the U.S. Flexibles program? For example, what was the impetus behind the formation of this group? What gaps does it aim to address? Who’s involved and what does it hope to achieve?
Pranav Goenka:
Thank you very much Anne Marie for having us and a chance to speak about the Alliance’s Flexibles Program. Yeah, I think the U.S. Flexibles Program, as you probably know, is part of a broader thematic program we have operating across the U.S., Canada and Europe. This is basically a program that’s designed for action. So, we are looking to implement solutions around some of the gaps we see in relation to flexibles, whether it’s relating to design, whether it’s related to collection, sorting or recycling or end markets. And we are doing that with partnerships with producer responsibility organizations. We are doing that with value chain players, but also communities on the ground. This program was started in January 2025, so we are a year and a little bit more into it, but we have been implementing flexible projects across the globe for many years now. So, our strategy around the U.S. Flexibles Program and our broader Flexibles Program is really grounded by some of the experiences we’ve had from these projects and the learnings we have on what works and what doesn’t work.
If I may, there are basically three main aspects that we consider when we are devising our approach or strategy towards the Flexibles Program, particularly in the U.S. The number one step is really starting with the end markets. It’s really about understanding and having a clear assessment of where these end markets exist and what will be required in terms of quality and cost to incorporate secondary raw materials from flexibles into these end-user applications. By understanding them, it leads the U.S. to the second step, which is being very targeted about designing our projects to close gaps across that value chain from design all the way to reclaimers and processing to make sure that every intervention we are making in our projects are really designed to be able to target making the quality better at an acceptable cost so that those end markets can accept flexibles into their particular incorporation.
And then the third step is once we have actually designed these projects, we’ve demonstrated these projects. We are not doing it alone; we are doing it in partnership with other organizations. So we are coordinating our action and then as a result, we are demonstrating it from a system viability end-to-end point of view in a local city or a local community because that’s when you start to instill trust in the system that the flexibles can be designed right, but also it’s flowing through the system all the way to the end markets and is being recycled. So, in summary, it’s about understanding the end markets, the quality and the cost, designing projects to intervene in gap closure, and then really coordinating our activities with others. So, I think if we follow these three steps, in our view, it’ll really get to the heart of the issue around what we face in the U.S. today around gaps in infrastructure, gaps in access, gaps in supply chain connectivity, and above all instilling more trust in the system. So yeah, we continue to use our platform on flexibles to be able to invite companies and organizations to join us and help collaborate and coordinate our action towards the clarity. So yeah, we are really excited about what’s ahead.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Okay. So, you’ve mentioned collaboration and partnerships, and I recently had a discussion with U.S. Plastics Pact, and they just released their framework for film and flexible packaging, and there are definitely other organizations that are trying to address the flexible film issue as well. Where do you fit in that puzzle of different organizations and frameworks, et cetera?
Pranav Goenka:
Yeah, I think that’s a great question, Anne Marie. I think all of these organizations have a common goal to be able to really bring flexibles to a much higher level of recycling and outcomes there. I think what we are seeing is that there’s a coordination going on with these organizations to really identify what each of these organizations do well and where their strengths lies and then ensuring that at a very minimum level we’re coordinating, but at an ideal level, we are complementing our action on the ground together. From an Alliance standpoint, I think where we bring in our value proposition is a global view on what has worked and what hasn’t worked and trying to integrate some of those best practices in the U.S. ecosystem while also realizing that the U.S. system has its own local context and a local challenges on its own. So, you cannot force a system from outside but also bring some of the best practices. For example, we’ve done a lot of work in Europe or other regions as well, but at the same time, it’s also trying to ensure that we are leveraging some of the know-how and on the ground experiences from other organizations as well. So, we are really in the process of really coordinating that and complementing each other. I would say over the last year I have seen much more coordinated and complementary actions happening on the ground.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Well, that’s very good to know. So flexible packaging now represents about half of plastic globally. Plastic packaging recycling rates still remain very low, and you talked about some of the issues such as infrastructure, et cetera, but what makes flexible films in particular more challenging to collect to sort and recycle compared with rigid plastics?
Pranav Goenka:
Absolutely, Anne Marie, as you pointed out rightly, it forms approximately flexible plastics forms about 50% of the total plastic packaging market. So, it is a critical segment. What you also see is that there are benefits to flexible packaging and flexible plastics in terms of the lightweight nature of it, the fact that it has superior functional performance. But along with that comes also the flip of the other side of the coin, which is essentially that it has its own challenges around circularity. I’ll give you three instances where this really surmounts to challenges. Number one is that it is made of wide range of materials, hence its structures are complex and that makes recycling more difficult for flexibles. The second is, on one hand it is a really positive, it’s lightweight and it helps with transportation and its greenhouse gas effects and footprint. On the other hand, it has its own challenges in terms of the fact that it has economic issues to collect and transport because of the lightweight nature of it.
So that’s the second one. The third one is from an operational standpoint as an operator, this is a typical material that sticks to other waste, it clogs equipment, and as a result, when you are operating facilities with a lot of flexibles, you do have a lot of downtime and maintenance issues and that leads to escalation of costs. So, we do believe there are a number of challenges to really account for when we are looking to make it circular, but as the Alliance, we believe that some of these challenges are solved, can be solved, but what is really required is targeted action and really collaboration there.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Okay. And in fact, I know that the Alliance recently released a report called The Challenges and Solutions for Flexible Plastic Packaging Waste. So, who is the intended audience for this, and how should stakeholders use it to guide action?
Pranav Goenka:
Yeah, thank you for the little bit of the advertisement around this report. It’s available on our website by everyone who’s interested. I think it’s a culmination of five, six years of our work in the area of flexibles, and it’s really talking about what we see on the ground across the globe with respect to making flexible more circular. So, it’s really made up of our on the ground experiences. The intended audience is actually quite broad. What we are intending to do with this type of white paper, insights paper, is that it’s really meant to address to stakeholders that are involved in the packaging systems, how they are currently working, but also how they will evolve, whether it is governments and policymakers, whether it is waste management operators, also for brands and plastic producers, but also investors. We’ve tried to keep the paper quite broad in terms of having some technical bits, certain business model considerations, but also certain policy and regulatory clarity that can really help with making flexibles more circular. At the end, it’s highlighting challenges that we face here, but also some practical solutions. And how we see this being used ideally is to inform policy to really help with how we can define collaboration in really getting higher collection and recycling outcomes on flexibles.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Okay. Okay. It sounds like something everyone in the supply chain can learn from or get guidance from.
Pranav Goenka:
Absolutely.
Anne Marie Mohan:
So, the report outlines a strategy that includes market mapping, demonstration projects and replication, and it emphasizes collaboration across the entire value chain as we just mentioned. How might these elements work together to help scale practical recycling solutions for flexible packaging in the U.S.?
Pranav Goenka:
I think this is giving me a chance to go a little bit deeper into what I had addressed in the first question, Anne Marie. I think by allowing the U.S. to follow these steps around market mapping, which is really about identifying where the demand for recycled materials exist today, but also where it potentially can be broadened, you are able to really identify what these core issues are from an end-market standpoint and an end-use application standpoint, and then really work back into the value chain to designing projects either by U.S. or by other organizations on what really is required to intervene. If we do that, we are able to actually design projects that are much more targeted. If we are doing that, we are able to, coming to your point, be very clear about the rules. Each organization is able to play in terms of creating that solution on the ground and above all demonstrating those solutions so that they can be replicated.
And that’s really the heart of the issue about scaling because one thing is about demonstrating, the other thing is about ensuring that we are collaborating with system actors who are these system actors? We are collaborating with policymakers, we are collaborating with communities on the ground municipalities, but eventually the producer responsibility organizations because organizations like us can demonstrate what that solution looks like end to end. But it is really the system actors that can take that and say, okay, now we’ve got a blueprint, let’s now replicate that across municipalities in one state or many states, and that’s where you will have scalable actions. So that’s really why we believe that a bit of that assessment on market mapping can lead to targeted action in a demonstration way, but then you can blueprint it for replication.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Okay. Okay. So, something that we’ve been talking a lot about is some of the advanced sorting and recycling technologies. We’re talking about the MRF level. What role do some of these innovations such as AI-based object recognition, digital watermarking and dedicated plastics recovery facilities play in improving the identification and processing of flexible plastics?
Pranav Goenka:
They play a very critical role. But before I go into that, let me just contextualize that a little bit. Anne Marie, today, conventional sorting technologies that we have near infrared spectroscopy, they are actually solving a major part of the problem today in terms of sorting plastics, including flexibles. So, it’s not that those technologies are not working, it’s just that these technologies sometimes are able to detect but sometimes are not able to quantify, for example, the number of polymers that exist in a packaging structure or the additives are that are included in that packaging material.
Or for example, have product information that is really required by recyclers, for example, melt flow of the packaging. So, what we believe is that these new technologies help complement along with the conventional sorting technologies, that additional information that helps improve recycling of these packaging materials. So let me take it one by one, digital watermarks. Digital watermarks is basically a size of a post-it stamp that is essentially embedded into the packaging material. It’s like essentially a barcode that’s invisible in the packaging, and it concludes information about the product, mechanical properties, product information, and when it goes through high-speed optical scanners in a sorting facility, that information helps the sorting facility to identify these packaging materials in a different way.
Similarly, AI-based sorting object recognition, what it does is it relies itself on visible cues like for example, colors, shapes, formats, or logos, and with that help is able to identify the packaging material. We believe that these technologies are technologies we’ve actually funded and demonstrated across the globe. Now, one example is the Holy Grail Project we funded in Europe that essentially helps validate digital watermark technology in industrial environment now to the technology readiness level of nine. And essentially it is ready to commercialize and adopt in an industrial environment. We believe that all these technologies are really moving the needle because it helps with sorting of its precision, but what is really the outcome we are aiming for? We are aiming for higher quality of recyclates that can meet the end-market demand and the demanding application quality that is required. And we believe that these technologies are doing that and have the potential to do that.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Okay. I’m just curious. I know there’s been testing in pilots with the Holy Grail for years now, and with AI, I was almost wondering if digital watermarking is already kind of outdated. If you can use AI and it can learn these different packaging formats and not so much I guess material types, but does that mean we don’t need to put watermarks on things if we have that technology?
Pranav Goenka:
I think the lessons we’ve learned out of really being part of both of these technologies is it’s really down to the problem you’re trying to solve at what part of the chain.
For example, if you are at the collection side trying to ensure that you’re improving contamination levels of the type of material you’re collecting, when you are tipping the bin into the truck and you have AI cameras really analyzing the material, then probably AI sorting actually, or the object recognition is actually well used there. But when it is about using it at a secondary sorting facility to understand melt flow indexes, whether it’s low melt flow or high melt flow, and what type of applications will they go into, blow molding or injection molding, digital watermarks is actually a much better application there. So, it really depends on the problem you’re trying to solve across the value chain. In terms of flexibles, I think there is an application of both. I do not believe that one essentially brings the other one out in terms of today’s situation.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Okay, interesting. Yes, I’ve been curious about that for a while as we saw AI evolving in the recycling environment, so I appreciate that explanation. So, the Alliance also operates a Flexibles Thematic Program globally. Could you describe how that program works and if you could share one or two examples of projects that illustrate the types of solutions that are being developed to improve flexible plastic recycling?
Pranav Goenka:
Yeah, thank you very much. Thank you for giving me a chance to talk a little bit about the broader flexibles program we have. I’m quite excited about what we are doing in the U.S., but also in other regions. Actually, the thematic program on flexibles has a very similar approach that I explained though we are doing in the U.S. program around market mapping demonstration and then replication. However, we are designing our portfolio projects in line with what gaps exist in that relevant region. So, let’s take Europe for example. In Europe, as you know, EPR extended producer responsibility is well established. The enabling environment is going to meet or drive recycled material demand in future. So, the need of the hour in Europe, from our point of view, is really upgrading the quality of materials in existing systems to really elevate the quality of the recyclate that is at the end of the chain.
So, for that, for example, I’ll give you two examples of projects we have in our portfolio as part of that. One of them is in U.K. with Nextek that we are deploying, which is called CO2 Clean. That is basically a waterless cleaning technology that helps clean polyethylene film without any water use through supercritical CO2, and that’s a demonstration unit in the U.K. to demonstrate that you can actually remove contamination in polyethylene film to really aim for very high-value applications. That’s one example. The second example is that we are also testing a number of sorting and recycling pathways, including dissolution, de-inking, decontamination technologies in Belgium around polypropylene, taking polypropylene as secondary raw material into actually testing it into BOPP applications for food and non-food applications through other pathways. And for that, we are partnering with the relevant producer responsibility organization but also brands and recyclers on that. This is really about validating from all the way from collection to the end, use incorporation into BOPP, certain materials that are sorted in a certain way and go through certain sorting pathways. We intend to actually do that this year in really testing out what incorporation levels we can achieve in BOPP and for what type of applications.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Okay, very interesting. We’ve talked to Nextek more than a couple times and more about polypropylene, though I wasn’t aware that they’re also working with polyethylene technology or to clean it and make it useful for recycling applications. The last question really talks, or I wanted to find out what our readers, brand owners, what can they do to help with this issue to whether it be using more materials, recycled materials, therefore, to expand that end market or their design for recycling in the beginning? What should they really be looking at?
Pranav Goenka:
Yeah, I think that’s a great question. You’re getting to the heart of the area where I think brand owners and retailers are absolutely critical to the puzzle of solving this issue. We see a lot of brand owners and retailers coming on the floor to take ownership and leadership in doing that. Actually, what we really, I think doing with them, or we see them really providing a lot of value is number one, being very clear about what it’ll take for them to be able to incorporate these materials into their packaging and into their applications, at what quality, at what cost, at what other conditions required. And then really for us to work on solutions, but then when we work on the solutions to be able to scale them, really provide the long-term commitment to be able to create that demand for the investment required, whether it is in infrastructure or technology. So, I think they are a critical piece in the entire puzzle, and as part of that collaboration, I think we really can’t implement solutions on the ground without their active collaboration. So, thank you for asking that because they are really at the forefront of solving this issue.
Anne Marie Mohan:
Wonderful. Thank you. And thank you so much for your time. We’re wrapping up our questions, so we’re
Pranav Goenka:
Thank you for giving me an opportunity, Anne Marie, really appreciate it. Thank you. PW
