CEFLEX report flags recycled content gap

A new report from CEFLEX has found that around 2.5 million tons of post-consumer recyclate derived from flexible packaging will be required by 2030 to meet EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation recycled content targets, rising to an estimated 5.9 million tons by 2035 when a 55 percent recycling rate target for all plastic packaging formats comes into force.

The report, Secondary Applications for Recycled Content: Key Insights for Flexible Packaging, published on June 18, 2026, finds that achieving PPWR targets will require the adoption of an additional 440,000 tons per year of flexible packaging derived from post-consumer recyclate every year between 2025 and 2035, covering recycled polyethylene, polypropylene and mixed polyolefins.

CEFLEX identifies a broader set of secondary markets, including construction films, refuse sacks, transport packaging and horticulture products, that could absorb recycled material beyond packaging applications. When these are included, total potential post-consumer recyclate demand rises to around 4.3 million tons in 2030. The organization says packaging alone is unlikely to absorb all the recycled material needed to support higher recycling rates.

'Meeting recycled content targets is not only about recycling more. It depends on whether that material can move into real applications, at the right quality and at scale,' said Arne Jost, external affairs director at CEFLEX. 'This work helps identify where those markets are and what they require in practice.'