Study reveals EU must unlock 2.5 million tonnes of recycled flexibles for PPWR goal
Key takeaways
- The study says that, between 2025 and 2035, an extra 440,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of flexible packaging made from post-consumer recyclate would need to be taken up annually to stay on course for PPWR compliance.
- This includes recycled polyethylene, polypropylene and mixed polyolefins.
- CEFLEX also points to a wider range of end-uses outside packaging, such as construction films, refuse sacks, transport packaging and horticulture products, as possible outlets for the recycled material.
Study reveals EU must unlock 2.5 million tonnes of recycled flexibles for PPWR goal To meet PPWR goals · Packaging Gateway Vidhya Edwards Munnangi Fri, June 19, 2026 at 9:12 PM GMT+7 1 min read Collaborative initiative Circular Economy for Flexible Packaging (CEFLEX) estimates that meeting recycled content rules under the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) will require 2.5 million tonnes of post-consumer material from flexible packaging by 2030.
In its report, Secondary Applications for Recycled Content: Key Insights for Flexible Packaging , the group projects that this requirement will increase to 5.9 million tonnes by 2035, when a 55% recycling rate target is due to apply across all plastic packaging formats.
The study says that, between 2025 and 2035, an extra 440,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of flexible packaging made from post-consumer recyclate would need to be taken up annually to stay on course for PPWR compliance.