A group of more than 170 European companies have drawn up an agreed policy statement outlining the need to significantly increase the amount of flexible packaging being targeted for collection and sorting across the region.

Under the Ceflex (Brussels / Belguim; www.ceflex.eu) banner, the companies said the position statement would help deliver a five-step roadmap to speed up progress towards creating a circular economy in the sector. As well as seeking to increase the collection and sorting of films and trays for recycling, particularly in countries like the UK currently not tackling the issue, the statement said flexible plastics packaging should be collected as a separate stream “or with other light packaging and not mixed with paper, board or glass to maximise recycling quality”.

The association also recognised that additional sorting of these products from mixed waste was likely to be necessary to access all flexible packaging materials and enable circularity.