The Flexible Film Recycling Alliance (FFRA), a self-funded initiative of the Plastics Industry Association, has launched two commercial flexible films recycling pilot programmes in California to evaluate different approaches to collecting and recycling commercial flexible films.
The programmes are intended to generate operational data on commercial film collection, support the development of future recycling programmes under California’s evolving recycling system and identify collection models that could be replicated and expanded.
Kurt Kurzawa, who leads FFRA, said: “FFRA has emerged as a leader in advancing practical, sustainable solutions for flexible film recycling.
‘Collaborative approach’
“These pilots reflect the collaborative approach that defines our work, bringing together businesses across the value chain to test new collection models, generate meaningful data and help build a stronger foundation for future film recycling programmes.”
Commercial films generated by warehouses, distribution centres, retail backrooms and manufacturing facilities are typically clean and consist primarily of a single material PE stream, making them well suited to recycling.
The regional pilot programmes will evaluate different methods of collecting, aggregating and transporting this material to recycling markets. They are being managed by FFRA and the Stewardship Action Foundation.
The Sacramento pilot will assess a distributed collection model for small and medium sized commercial film generators using the existing commercial service routes of 1-800-GOT-JUNK?.
Warehouse-focused collection
The Ontario and Inland Empire pilot will evaluate a warehouse-focused collection model for larger generators through the logistics network of Shorr Packaging, which supplies packaging products to warehouse and distribution centre customers.
Both pilot programmes will use standardised ‘Rack n’ Pack’ film collection systems that allow businesses to separate PE films at the point where they are generated.
Collected material will be transported to regional aggregation facilities, where it will be weighed, consolidated and baled before being shipped to recycling markets.
Collection activities began on 1 July 2026 and will continue until 30 November 2026. The programmes will then be evaluated before a final report is produced.
