In its 2025 Global Responsibility Report, General Mills goes into considerable detail about its approach to flexible packaging and strategies for facilitating the recycling of flexible packaging.
The company notes that 13 percent, or 165 million pounds, of its packaging by weight is plastic, with the vast majority being flexible plastic.
“Our primary focus has been on transitioning to mono-PE, which can be recycled in the U.S. through the store drop-off program,” the company states. “General Mills recognized early on that the only infrastructure with widespread access for recycling flexibles is through store drop-off bins placed at the front of many retail locations around the country.”
The company adds: “Retailers are able to provide this benefit to consumers by combining their back-of-house pallet wrap with mono-PE packaging and recycling it through responsible end markets — for example, a large portion of this material is used to make composite decking. Since beginning our transition, we’ve shifted 46 million pounds from non-recyclable multi-material to mono-PE.”
The company uses the How-2Recycle™ Store Drop-Off label on all of its packaging that has made the transition to mono-PE, and the company labels its multi-material packaging with a Do-Not-Recycle graphic to avoid consumer confusion.
“We also know that there is a lot of work to do to make it easier for consumers to recycle mono-PE flexibles, and that is why we have been providing funding to The Recycling Partnership Film & Flexible Collaborative, The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) PE Film Design Guide and The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) Flexible Packaging Recovery Collaborative as well as supporting the Flexible Films Recycling Alliance (FFRA),” the company notes.
The company’s efforts to improve recycling infrastructure include investing in the state-of-the-art plastics recycling plant owned by GDB Circular (MN), Inc., in the company’s home state of Minnesota.
“Achieving our packaging ambition requires both integration and ownership across the company. That’s why each of our business segments — North America Retail, North America Foodservice, Pet and International — now has dedicated teams and assigned resources to achieve this commitment,” the company states.
Each segment has established a glide path for remaining packaging conversions necessary to reach 100% recyclable/reusable by 2030 and will be focused on executing these plans over the next few years.
