As part of its ongoing outreach and education program, the Emerging Leadership Council (ELC) of the Flexible Packaging Association (FPA) recently released a new video that explains how flexible packaging works with extended producer responsibility (EPR) laws.
The video—“Basics of Extended Producer Responsibility”—runs for just under five minutes and outlines the sustainability attributes of flexible packaging and then explains how EPR programs work.
“The goal of the Education Committee within FPA’s ELC is to create useful tools to help educate consumers and legislators about the benefits of flexible packaging,” according to the ELC.
The video can be found on YouTube. FPA’s advocacy efforts also can be found at FlexPack.org and PerfectPackaging.org.
Background
An educational video campaign started in the spring to coincide with Earth Day/Month in April. Over the next year, videos will be used along with social media posts, media outreach, and postings by social media influencers to spread the word about the benefits of flexible packaging while informing stakeholders and consumers about the issues. The overall promotional campaign is called “Pro Planet: We Believe Every Day is Earth Day.”
EPR programs have been adopted in five states so far, with Minnesota being the latest to pass a law this summer. The others are Oregon, Maine, Colorado, and California, which are in various stages of implementing their programs.
The first half of the video largely discusses the benefits of flexible packaging such as how it has a minimal carbon footprint compared with other packaging. It also mentions that flexible packaging is the second largest segment of packaging in the U.S. next to corrugated packaging. That equates to $42.9 billion of the $211 billion U.S. packaging market, the video says.
However, despite efforts to redesign packaging for recyclability, the recycling infrastructure in the U.S. remains antiquated. The second half of the video then explains how EPR programs work.
“Unfortunately, the current U.S. infrastructure for recycling was not designed for flexible packaging,” the video says. “This means that collecting recyclable flexible packaging is generally limited to consumer drop-off programs that may not be convenient and only take specific plastic films. This leads to low participation rates despite being available to the vast majority of the U.S. population.”
Infrastructure investment would improve circularity, which is where EPR programs can help.
“EPR shifts the financial responsibility for the recycling and composting of packaging from taxpayers to brand owners who put the packaged goods on the market,” the video says. “As a result, dedicated funding for the recycling and composting of all packaging types, including flexibles, is available, and brand owners have access to recycled content material.”
Producer responsibility organizations (PROs) then manage the system with government oversight and enforcement.
“The PRO collects fees for packaging put on the market by brand owners and ensures investment in recycling and composting infrastructure,” the video states. “Well-crafted EPR has the ability to modernize the U.S. recycling system and include all of the packaging types used today. It’s a reasonable approach that is working in other parts of the world.”
Further Outreach
The ELC asks that FPA members promote the video through social media channels and provide it to suppliers, customers, or other stakeholders.
“If you have facilities in states with current EPR legislation, use this video to help educate your employees in those states,” the video also says.
FPA’s leaders and advocacy professionals have said they expect EPR legislation to spread beyond the current five states in 2025.
Thomas A. Barstow is senior editor of FlexPack VOICE®.