A dominant theme in packaging today is sustainability. It seems to be at the core of every packaging conversation, and plastics, in particular, are the villain du jour.

A rising tide of consumer sentiment against use of plastics is starting to flood the world. Everywhere, you can see images of debris in the oceans choking marine animals. Dire warnings are being floated about these environmental concerns. It is estimated that 80 percent of the estimated 8 million tons of plastics that flow into the oceans each year originates on land, much of it in six Asian nations. 

The “Energy Bag,” Plastics-to-Energy pilot program demonstrated that there are emerging technologies that can offer solutions for diverting most multi-material flexible plastic packaging and many other types of plastics that are difficult to mechanically recycle.