The US Flexible Film Initiative has moved more than 3 million pounds of flexible plastic packaging from California MRF collection programs to reclaimers across the U.S. and Canada, the nonprofit announced Sept. 29 at SPC Advance in San Diego.

The figure sits behind USFFI's first round of offtake contracts, signed with four companies operating in the post-consumer film stream:

• MRF operators: Valemi and GreenWaste
• Plastic film reclaimers: EFS Plastics and Merlin Plastics

The agreements support up to eight truckloads of recycled flexible plastic per month, USFFI said. The nonprofit acts as a broker between California material recovery facilities and downstream processors, plugging an operational subsidy gap that has stalled film bale economics.

USFFI launched in 2025, funded by consumer brands led by food and pet food companies, with a narrow target: move California-collected flexible packaging to end markets at a price that lets reclaimers and MRFs make money.

Why the focus on California?

California's SB 54 sets the regulatory clock. The extended producer responsibility law requires all single-use packaging and plastic food ware to be recyclable or compostable by 2032, and packaging to reach a 30% recycling rate by 2028.

Flexible film has lagged other resins on those curves. USFFI Executive Director Maite Quinn-Richards said an initial request for information at the end of 2025 drew 32 applicants from the MRF and reclaimer side. From that pool, USFFI selected a working subset and tested whether bales could move consistently at viable economics.

"Working with a subset of MRFs and reclaimers, USFFI consistently moved material and identified what it was going to take to make a viable bale and where they could go," Quinn-Richards said.

How much material is committed?

The 3 million pounds moved to date implies a run rate of roughly eight truckloads per month under the new contracts. USFFI and the four contracted companies did not disclose per-tonne pricing, contract length, or which MRF sites feed which reclaimer lines.

Eadaoin Quinn, sustainable packaging senior manager at USFFI member Mars, framed the deals as more than a pilot. "It's a very big deal because it's not just showing that it can be done, but it's actually commitment" long-term from both USFFI and recyclers, she said.

Kevin Kelly, CEO of associate member Emerald Packaging, tied the contracts to a profitability test. The deals are "exactly the outcome we hoped to help create," he said, adding: "It shows circularity is achievable when recyclers can sell the material at a profit."

Quinn also pointed to longer-term design pressure on the brand side. "If we could switch to a readily recyclable package tomorrow, that would be the best. But there are reasons that we are choosing to be in flexible packaging, and therefore we need to choose to see it through to end of life," she said.

What happens next?

USFFI has opened a second RFI aimed at additional California-based MRFs and at plastic reclaimers and secondary processors that could take material. The deadline is Dec. 18.

The nonprofit has also flagged potential expansion into other EPR-active states. Quinn said USFFI wants to share the data with regulators in California, Minnesota, and Washington. "It's not just talking," she said.

The next milestone to watch is California's 2028 SB 54 recycling-rate checkpoint. If the USFFI contracts prove the offtake economics, the model could become the template for EPR payments to MRFs and reclaimers in other film-heavy jurisdictions. If they don't, the 2032 recyclability deadline will arrive with film still a residual stream.