Interview with Pranav Goenka, Alliance to End Plastic Waste, on Flexible Film Recovery
Why It Matters
Fixing flexible-film recycling matters because flexibles constitute roughly half of plastic packaging and current recycling rates are low; making them economically and technically recyclable would cut waste, reduce emissions, and unlock secondary-supply chains for manufacturers. The Alliance’s coordinated, market-focused approach could accelerate scalable infrastructure, investment and industry alignment needed to move the sector toward circularity.
Summary
The Alliance to End Plastic Waste’s US flexible program, launched in January 2025, is pursuing scalable solutions to recover and recycle flexible film by focusing on three steps: assessing viable end markets and required material quality/cost, designing targeted interventions to close gaps across the value chain, and coordinating partnerships to demonstrate end-to-end system viability in local communities. Pranav Goenka emphasized the Alliance’s role in bringing global best practices to the US while adapting to local contexts and complementing other initiatives like the US Plastics Pact. He detailed inherent challenges of flexible films—complex multi-material structures, low-density economics for collection and transport, and operational issues that clog equipment—and argued targeted, collaborative projects can make recycling commercially viable. The Alliance has published a report outlining these challenges and solutions and is using its platform to convene producers, reclaimers, and communities to pilot and scale proven approaches.
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