The government has confirmed that the introduction of mandatory kerbside collections for plastic films and flexible packaging in England has been postponed until 1 April 2030.
Under the original Simpler Recycling regulations, councils were due to begin collecting these materials from households by 31 March 2027.
However, following ongoing concerns about the availability of processing infrastructure and viable end markets, Defra has delayed the requirement by three years.
The department announced the change last week, with updates to the Simpler Recycling regulations expected to be made during the next parliamentary session.
The postponed requirement covers a range of commonly used flexible plastic packaging, including crisp packets, bread bags and reusable shopping bags.
Gareth Rollings, Chair of the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee (LARAC), said: "LARAC welcomes the Government's intention to move the mandatory collection date for plastic films and flexibles to 1 April 2030.
"This reflects the concerns that our members have consistently raised about the readiness of the wider system and the financial and operational consequences for local authorities.
"The additional three years must now be used constructively by government and industry to build that infrastructure and provide local authorities with the clarity they need to plan."
The challenge of flexible packaging
Flexible packaging is often made from multiple polymers – including polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), PET and others – combined with inks, adhesives and barrier layers such as aluminium.
These multi-material structures deliver performance benefits but complicate both mechanical and chemical recycling.
At the same time, recycled flexible plastics struggle to compete with virgin polymer produced in large-scale, highly optimised facilities. Recycling plants tend to operate at far smaller scale, with higher costs and less mature technology.
The FlexCollect programme, which concluded in September 2025, found that although collections could be successfully introduced, the UK still lacks enough recycling and reprocessing capacity to deal with the volumes expected once mandatory collections are rolled out nationwide.
