While plastic bottles get the all the media attention and infrastructure investment, plastic films are quietly sitting there, being useful and, sometimes, recycled.
With only 9 % of all plastic films currently being recycled, the less visible cousin of the plastic bottle has a valuable role to play in the circular economy, particulary with regards to consumer understanding of standard recycling collections.
With nearly 5 million tonnes of packaging films produced worldwide every year and only just over 9 % being recycled, it's no wonder that alternatives such as compostable and biodegradable films are widely touted as the best thing since the bag that prevously wrapped sliced bread. But the convenient consumer disconnect of buying 'more responsible' packaging vs what happens to it after they put it with the rest of their recycling means that vast problems are stored up for recycling collection schemes a little further down the chain.
Read online at Susntainable packaging News (p.60-61)