From Waste to Worth: Tackling Flexible Packaging Challenges with Advanced Recycling Technologies

India, a nation celebrated for its rich biodiversity and ecological heritage, now finds itself at the centre of a growing environmental crisis: plastic pollution. A recent study has revealed that India is now the largest contributor to plastic pollution in the world, accounting for nearly 20% of total global plastic waste. With approximately 9.3 million tonnes of plastic waste generated annually, India surpasses entire regions in its contribution to this escalating problem. In contrast, the European Union generates around 29.1 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, but benefits from higher collection, recycling infrastructure, and policy enforcement. However, even within Europe, only 38% of plastic packaging waste is recycled, with flexible packaging representing a significant share of what's left behind.

Flexible packaging, while efficient and cost-effective for manufacturers and consumers, presents one of the most difficult categories to recycle. A sizable proportion of flexible packaging contains multiple layers of different materials, such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and aluminum. These layers, often bound with adhesives and coated in inks, are difficult to separate and decontaminate using conventional mechanical recycling methods. As a result, flexible packaging is frequently downcycled, incinerated, or ends up in landfills and the environment.

To address these challenges, a new wave of targeted recycling solutions is emerging. These innovations are designed to overcome the technical and economic barriers that have historically limited the recyclability and value recovery from flexible packaging. Specifically, five key recycling technologies are gaining prominence:

• Advanced Wet Friction Washing
• Delamination
• Deinking
• Extraction
• Dissolution

These technologies, either individually or in combination, provide a pathway to improve the quality of recycled plastics, increase recycling rates, and enable the incorporation of fit-for-purpose recycled content into high-value and even contact-sensitive applications.

Rethinking Recycling: From Volume to Quality

Conventional mechanical recycling typically follows two main approaches:

• Basic mechanical recycling, which involves minimal sorting, basic washing, and direct extrusion. This method is cost-effective but yields low-quality recyclates that are often colored, contaminated, or odorous.
• Advanced mechanical recycling, which includes hot chemical washing, double filtration, and deodorization. While more costly, this approach significantly improves the purity and usability of recyclates for higher-value applications.

However, neither approach alone is sufficient to tackle the complex multi-material structures that dominate flexible packaging waste streams today. To meet the stringent targets set by regulations such as the EU’s PPWR and India’s EPR guidelines, the recycling industry must now shift from focusing solely on volume to delivering high-quality, application-ready materials.

The Five Emerging Technologies Driving Circularity

1. Advanced Wet Friction Washing

This pre-treatment process uses a combination of mechanical agitation and water flow to dislodge surface-level contaminants such as food residues, dirt, and adhesives from plastic waste. Unlike traditional rinsing, wet friction washing can handle printed, laminated, and slightly soiled films, making it an essential first step in many recycling workflows.

Benefits:

• Enhances the effectiveness of downstream recycling technologies
• Increases recyclate yield and quality
• Reduces the load on extrusion and filtration systems

Challenges:

• Requires energy-efficient water management systems
• Performance depends on the consistency of feedstock

2. Delamination

Delamination involves breaking the adhesive bonds between different material layers in a laminate structure. This step is especially crucial for separating PET/PE or PE/aluminum composites commonly found in snack packaging, detergent pouches, and beverage cartons.

Benefits:

• Enables the recovery of individual mono-material layers
• Improves recyclate purity and mechanical properties
• Allows subsequent processes like deinking to be more effective

Challenges:

• Requires well-sorted, consistent feedstock
• May involve water or solvent-based systems depending on adhesive type

3. Deinking

Deinking is a crucial step for removing surface-printed inks and pigments from plastic films. This is especially important when recycling packaging destined for cosmetic, pharmaceutical, or food applications where color and odor are critical.

Benefits:

• Produces clear or lightly tinted recyclates
• Improves odor profile and visual appeal
• Enables compliance with contact-sensitive application requirements

Challenges:

• Less effective on mass-colored films
• Requires prior separation of suitable feedstocks

4. Extraction

Extraction focuses on removing embedded contaminants such as plasticizers, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and additives that cannot be removed through washing alone.

Benefits:

• Enables food-grade quality recycled polyolefins
• Raises the purity of recyclates to meet stringent regulatory standards
• Supports circular applications in contact sensitive sectors

Challenges:

• Still in pilot or early commercialization stages
• Requires significant CAPEX and operational expertise

5. Dissolution

Dissolution is a physical recycling process where specific polymers are selectively dissolved using a solvent, leaving behind non-target materials like inks, fillers, or incompatible polymers. The polymer is then precipitated and recovered in an ultra-pure form.

Benefits:

• Produces near-virgin quality recyclates
• Ideal for recovering high-value polymers from complex waste streams
• Can meet EFSA and FDA requirements for food-contact materials

Challenges:

• Solvent management and recovery systems are critical
• Requires consistent and well-characterized feedstocks

Policy, Innovation, and the Push for Circularity

Across the globe, legislation is increasingly favoring circular material systems. The EU’s PPWR mandates 55% recycling of plastic packaging by 2035, and India’s Plastic Waste Management Rules require minimum recycled content thresholds ranging from 5% to 30% starting April 2025 and increasing YoY across various packaging categories. These mandates are now being supplemented with digital tools such as digital product passports in Europe and QR code labeling in India.

The European digital product passport is a regulatory tool that documents a product’s entire lifecycle—from raw material composition to recycling pathways. It provides detailed traceability for stakeholders and facilitates better waste management and sorting decisions. In India, the latest EPR marking and labeling guidelines require QR codes on plastic packaging to ensure traceability, EPR compliance, and facilitate recyclability verification by waste handlers and recyclers.

Design for Recyclability is becoming central to this shift. Simplified, mono-material structures using compatible inks, adhesives, and coatings are increasingly favored. Digital innovations like AI-powered sorting, QR codes, and product passports are helping improve sorting accuracy and traceability across the supply chain.

Real-World Adoption and Brand Examples

Leading FMCG brands are now investing in circular packaging solutions. A notable example is Cadbury, which has begun using 80% certified recycled plastic for its sharing bars in the UK and Ireland. The company plans to wrap over 300 million bars annually using 600 metric tonnes of post-consumer recycled material, showcasing that advanced recycling technologies are viable at industrial scale.

These initiatives are driven by a mix of environmental commitment, regulatory compliance, and consumer expectation. As sustainability becomes a key differentiator in the market, brands are actively reshaping their packaging portfolios to incorporate recyclable and recycled materials.

Strategic Enablers for Scaling Technologies

To achieve large-scale impact, the following enablers must be in place:

• Widespread adoption of Design for Recycling principles, especially in flexible packaging.
• Investment in pilot and commercial-scale recycling plants that incorporate emerging technologies by brands and petrochemical companies.
• Development of smart sorting infrastructure to segregate suitable feedstock with high precision.
• Clear and harmonized regulatory frameworks that enable approval of food-contact recycled plastics.
• Public-private partnerships to bridge the investment gap and accelerate adoption.

Conclusion: From Challenge to Opportunity

The recycling of flexible packaging is one of the most complex, yet crucial challenges in the journey toward a circular economy. With India leading in plastic pollution and the EU facing its own recycling shortfalls, the global packaging sector must act decisively.

The five emerging technologies—wet washing, delamination, deinking, extraction, and dissolution—offer transformative potential. When combined with AI-driven sorting, monomaterial packaging innovation, and supportive policy frameworks, they enable the production of high-quality, circular materials that can re-enter the supply chain.

To unlock this potential, the industry must:

• Fully assess and validate the business case for these technologies
• Implement harmonized design-for-recycling standards
• Invest in infrastructure and regulatory pathways
• Foster collaboration across brands, recyclers, policymakers, and consumers

This transition is more than a regulatory requirement—it is a strategic imperative. By transforming today’s waste into tomorrow’s resource, the packaging industry can position itself at the forefront of environmental leadership, economic resilience, and global sustainability. The opportunity is clear and the roadmap is ready. What remains is collective willpower and rapid, decisive implementation.