10075879Vac-Flex Recycling PackClosedCollaborative R&DISCFThe Vac-Flex project aim is to assess the feasibility of a reusable vacuum pack collection method for flexible plastic packaging waste from UK households. Flexible plastic packaging will be separated and collected by households into a dedicated container that stores and can also temporarily compress the waste to reduce the volume it takes for storage and transportation prior to individual deposits at supermarkets or similar recycling facilities, or in preparation for kerbside collection. The space saving advantage from the vacuum pack method will make it easier, more convenient and appealing for households to separate and collect the flexible plastic packaging waste for recycling and more efficient, space and cost wise, for recyclers to collect and transport the materials for further sorting and treatment at suitable material processing facilities. To facilitate this collection and recycling process, the lock & release vacuum container will be transportable and replaceable where full containers are replenished by empty containers at the point of collection and once full containers have been transported to a processing facility where they are emptied, they could be cleaned, tested, and returned to a collection point or waste collector to be passed back onto households for re-filling. The advantages and incentives for households to separate and collect the flexible plastic packaging waste are that doing so with the vacuum pack container will reduce the space the waste takes up in their home but also within their other waste streams and collection methods such as kitchen bins, plastic bags, bulky containers or wheelie bins. Having a dedicated collection method for these currently difficult to collect and recycle forms of flexible plastic packaging waste will also encourage households to engage with the recycling process and enable the circulation and reuse of valuable materials that would otherwise be wasted and require replacing with virgin materials by the packaging industry and therefore would also add to commercial incentives to support the recycling scheme. Although this project will only test the feasibility of the concept on a small scale with user trials and industry feedback to review and refine a possible solution, the potential material, cost and environmental savings both directly from the circulation of existing materials and indirectly from the saving to extract and process raw materials, would be more significant at the scale that this project could unlock, though further trails at a local level and much more significant at a national level.