J&B News & Updates

18.09.25

Mark Penny, Commercial Manager at J&B Recycling, an FCC Environment company, attended the Houses of Parliament last week for the launch of the FlexCollect report, which sets out a blueprint for how flexible plastic packaging (FPP) can be collected and recycled effectively and at scale across the UK.

The report is the culmination of a three-year project that trialled different collection and processing methods across 10 local authorities and 160,000 households, collecting over 400 tonnes of flexible plastics – the equivalent of more than 50 million bread bags. Findings confirm that kerbside collection of these materials is both practical and well-received, with householders reporting an 89% satisfaction rate with the services.

A key element of the trial was the use of brightly coloured “survival bags” for households to gather flexible plastics alongside their usual recycling. These bags were then processed through partner facilities, including J&B Recycling’s Materials Recycling Facility in Hartlepool. Once sorted, the plastics were recycled into a range of useful products, such as new plastic bags and plastic timber products like benches and fencing, demonstrating the potential for a circular economy for these materials.

J&B Recycling has played a central role in the Newcastle phase of the FlexCollect project since its rollout in June 2023, initially involving 7,000 homes before expanding to 35,000 in October 2024. By processing these materials, the company has helped to prove that flexible plastics can be collected, sorted and recycled at scale.

Commenting on the project, Mark Penny, said: “Flexible plastics have long been seen as a difficult material to recycle, but this project proves that needn’t be the case. With strong participation from households and effective processing, we’ve shown there’s a viable path forward. We strongly believe survival bags offer the best national solution for collecting this material, and we’re proud to have contributed to the progress that’s been made.”

Gareth Morton, Discovery Manager at Ecosurety and representative of the Flexible Plastic Fund, added: “FlexCollect has shown that collecting flexible plastics from people’s homes is not only possible – it’s popular, efficient, and scalable. The Blueprint is the culmination of years of hard work by the project partners, and a critical step towards a circular economic system for flexible plastic in the UK.”

With around 1.7 million tonnes of flexible plastic packaging placed on the UK market each year, the insights from FlexCollect will be essential for meeting future government policy requirements, including mandatory kerbside collections under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) reforms due to take effect from April 2027.

J&B Recycling’s involvement in the project underlines its commitment to supporting innovation and progress within the recycling industry and demonstrates the company’s role in tackling challenging waste streams through collaborative initiatives.