CEFLEX study highlights the scale of recycled flexible packaging required for EU PPWR compliance. The report, 'Secondary Applications for Recycled Content: Key Insights for Flexible Packaging,' estimates that by 2030, the EU will need 2.5 million tonnes of post-consumer recycled material from flexible packaging to meet mandated recycled content rules under the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR). By 2035, as recycling rate targets rise to 55% across all plastic packaging formats, this demand is projected to increase to 5.9 million tonnes.

To stay on track, an additional 440,000 tonnes of recycled flexible packaging will need to be incorporated annually between 2025 and 2035. The materials in scope include recycled polyethylene (rPE), polypropylene (rPP), and mixed polyolefins.

CEFLEX also emphasizes that meeting recycled content targets requires more than increased collection and recycling; the recycled material must be able to flow into actual applications at sufficient quality and scale. Beyond packaging, potential outlets include construction films, refuse sacks, transport packaging, and horticultural products. Including these secondary applications, total potential demand for post-consumer recyclate could reach 4.3 million tonnes by 2030.

\"Meeting recycled content targets is not only about recycling more. It depends on whether that material can move into real applications, at the right quality and at scale,\" said Arne Jost, CEFLEX External Affairs Director. \"This work helps identify where those markets are and what they require in practice.\"

This analysis underscores the urgent need for investment in sorting, collection, and recycling infrastructure, as well as market development, to ensure recycled flexible packaging can meet the EU’s ambitious circular economy goals.