The U.S. Plastics Pact (USPP) today released Journey to Film & Flex Circularity: A Framework of Necessary Design, Collection, and End-Market Levers, a new resource outlining the practical, system-level actions needed to advance the circularity of film and flexible plastic packaging in the United States.
“Film and flexible packaging play an essential role in protecting products, extending shelf life, and delivering goods to consumers in a cost-effective way,” USPP said in a statement. “At the same time, the lightweight nature and complex, multi-material designs common to many film packages create real challenges for collection, sorting, and recycling at scale. This new framework confronts those realities head-on—offering a pragmatic, actionable path forward grounded in today’s infrastructure, economics, and market conditions.”
While the paper focuses primarily on improving the recycling outcomes for film, it is clear in its framing: Efforts to reduce packaging and scale reuse should be prioritized first, consistent with the waste hierarchy. Where recycling is pursued, the framework emphasizes that progress depends on addressing the full system—not just one part of it.
“A central finding of the paper is that end-market development is the most critical lever for change. Collecting more material without strong, reliable demand for recycled film risks simply shifting material without delivering real circular outcomes,” USPP said.
The paper also reinforces that there is no single, universal solution for film collection. Instead, successful strategies will vary based on community size, infrastructure, policy context, and local market dynamics. The framework highlights the need for multiple collection approaches alongside continued circular redesign. It includes specific calls to action for packaging manufacturers, packaging users, and policymakers. Together, these actions are intended to help galvanize the innovation, investment, and policy alignment needed to move film and flexible packaging toward circularity.
“This workstream brought together an extraordinary range of expertise from municipalities and MRF operators to brands, film suppliers, and recyclers,” said Crystal Bayliss, Interim Executive Director of the USPP. “By pairing that on-the-ground experience with insights from outside collection experts, we were able to clearly identify where the gaps are, and which solutions are most likely to work in specific settings. The result is a practical framework rooted in real-world conditions.”
The full paper, Journey to Film & Flex Circularity: A Framework of Necessary Design, Collection, and End-Market Levers, is available at https://usplasticspact.org/uspp-journey-to-film-flex-circularity-framework/
