Flexible Packaging Report Assesses US Circularity Progress

The Flexible Packaging Association released an updated US market profile examining material formats, recycling pathways, and recycled content opportunities.

Updated on Nov. 9, 2026 in Consumer Goods

Isometric editorial illustration of a neat stack of plain, unprinted flexible pouches beside an empty conveyor belt on a flat concrete floor. — The Flexible Packaging Association's updated US market profile assesses how far the industry has moved toward circularity, examining material formats, recycling pathways, and recycled content. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

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The Flexible Packaging Association published its Flexible Packaging US Market Profile and Circularity Assessment Report, prepared by PTIS, which updates its 2021 market profile and segmentation report. The report examines market size and composition, material formats, collection and recycling pathways, and post-consumer recycled content opportunities.

Why it matters

The update reflects post-pandemic market shifts, the significant expansion of extended producer responsibility laws, and trade and supply chain changes since the previous assessment. The report concludes that progress toward circularity requires collaboration across manufacturers, brand owners, recyclers, retailers, policymakers, and consumers.

The report's comparator is the 2021 Flexible Packaging US Market Profile and Segmentation Report, which it updates to reflect changes since that assessment. The extraction does not provide updated quantitative figures, so the current market size and recycled content percentages remain unspecified.

The players

Flexible Packaging Association

The trade association representing flexible packaging manufacturers and stakeholders in the United States, which commissioned and published the report.

Ceflex

A European collaborative organization that develops design guidance to improve the recyclability of flexible packaging.

Association of Plastic Recyclers

A US trade association of plastic recycling companies that advances design guidance for recyclable plastic packaging.

The details

The report quantifies flexible packaging formats now in the marketplace and evaluates their potential for redesign, recycling, and post-consumer recycled content incorporation. Manufacturers have accelerated development of mono-material polyethylene structures and paper-based alternatives, while the Association of Plastic Recyclers in the US and Ceflex in Europe continue advancing design-for-recyclability guidance.

2021: Previous Flexible Packaging US Market Profile and Segmentation Report was published.
November 9, 2026: The Flexible Packaging Association published the new US market profile and circularity report.

Market Landscape

The report updates the 2021 Flexible Packaging US Market Profile and Segmentation Report to capture the expansion of extended producer responsibility laws, which have reshaped how packaging is designed and collected. The update positions flexible packaging manufacturers and brand owners within a broader shift toward mono-material structures and paper-based alternatives.

Consumers may see changes in packaging formats as brands adopt mono-material polyethylene and paper-based alternatives designed for easier recycling. Whether a given flexible package can be recycled still depends on its design and on local collection access and recycling infrastructure.

The takeaway

Recyclability of flexible packaging depends on the package's design, nearby collection systems, and regional recycling infrastructure. Checking local recycling guidance before discarding flexible packaging helps keep it out of landfills.