Business View Magazine | December 2018

72 73 THE FLEXIBLE PACKAGING ASSOCIATION forated polyethylene bags versus 15 days unpackaged.These are just some of themanyexamples of howflexible packaging is ex- tending shelf-life and prolonging freshness to inhibit foodwaste. FPAalso advocates on end-of- life options for flexible packaging. There is no single solution that can be applied to all communities when it comes to the best way to collect,sort,and process flexible packagingwaste.FPAis working with a number of programs to address this.Firstly,singlematerial flexible packaging (polyethylene), such as grocerybags,air pillows, bubblewrap,overwraps for toilet and tissue paper,and dry-cleaning bags,can all be currently recy- cled through in-store drop-off programs.Secondly,FPAand its members areworkingwith recy- clers,retailers,wastemanagement companies,and brand owners on theMaterials Recovery for the Future (MRFF) project,which is piloting a program to showhow the current municipal solidwaste recycling infrastructure can be changed in order to accept and re- cover themulti-material packages, which are not yet readily recycla- ble.Thirdly,FPAis sponsoring the DowEnergyBag program,which collects themulti-material flexi- ble packages curbside for energy recovery. FPAalso produces industry research,including the annual State of the Flexible Packag- ing IndustryReport,and holds twomember meetings a year. In 2017,FPAestimates an annual U.S.industry revenue of $31 billion and a volume of 18 billion pounds of ma- terial.The flexible packaging industryemploys close to 79,000 people in the U.S.The average U.S.flexible pack- aging converter is a small to medium-sized companywith annual sales totaling approx- imately$75-76million.The top 100U.S.flexible pack- aging companies (out of the estimated 411 companies) account for 79 percent of the total U.S. industry rev- enue with an average size of around $240 million.The top 10 U.S. flexible packag- ing companies account for just over half (54 percent) of the U.S. flexible packag- ing industry revenue and have average sales of about $1.6-1.7billion.The majority of U.S. flexible packaging plants are concentrated in theMidwest,althoughmany plants exist in the Southeast and in California.