SUSTAINABILITY


Vending suppliers make a stand on flexible packaging


Five vending suppliers who are participants in the Flexible packaging Initiative have committed to increasing investment and providing support for a series of public policy interventions in Europe to accelerate the transition toward a circular economy for flexible packaging in the region.


T


he five companies, Mars, Mondelēz International, Nestlé, PepsiCo and Unilever want to tackle flexible packaging because it accounts for 44% of the total post-consumer packaging waste


in EU, while packaging 66% of the total products volumes. The five companies support a circular economy for flexible


packaging built on the principles of resource efficiency, prevention of waste and pollution, and lowering the overall environmental impact of the packaging. Individually these companies are reviewing packaging designs


with the aim to reduce packaging materials, improve recyclability and increase the use of recycled and renewable content. To ensure packaging materials are kept within the economy, the


companies aim to improve recycling infrastructure and uptake of recycled materials. Innovative packaging designs and solutions, as well as working with partners and governmental bodies to improve infrastructure, will lead to a world with less waste. Flexible packaging is highly efficient as it is able to pack a relatively large amount of product while being low in weight which


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minimises carbon emissions, whilst providing various benefits, including product protection, preservation and quality assurance. However, currently, flexible packaging is not yet widely recycled.


To lead the transition toward boosting recycling, participants to the Initiative are committed to working with partners and governmental bodies to improve infrastructure. The want to go beyond individual packaging design efforts by


providing concrete proposals to help enable effective collection, improved sorting and innovative recycling of flexible packaging across Europe. Together and through various cross-sector and public-private


collaborations, the companies are focusing on action in five key areas: Policy changes to incentivise circularity: They want more ambitious


recycling targets, a landfill ban, and minimum incineration for recyclable packaging. Maximised collection: They want to intensify consumer awareness


on circularity, mandatory collection of flexible packaging and harmonised packaging disposal instructions


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