Overview: A World Searching for Circular Solutions

Every year, humanity produces over 350 million tonnes of plastic—mass that outpaces our ability to manage it sustainably. Only about 9% of all plastic ever produced has been recycled, while the remainder accumulates in landfills, oceans, and ecosystems. Facing a mounting environmental crisis, countries, innovators, and communities are embracing recycling and upcycling to transform waste into value.

Recycling involves mechanically or chemically converting used plastics into new materials or products—pellets, fibers, or chemical monomers—for re-manufacturing. Upcycling, on the other hand, creatively transforms waste plastic into items of higher utility or value without necessarily breaking it down chemically—think artistic crafts, construction materials, or durable goods.

Innovations vary by region. In Europe, cutting-edge chemical recycling plants like Mura Technology’s HydroPRS system use supercritical water to break down mixed plastics—including films—into food-grade feedstocks with high efficiency. In India’s Dharavi slum, residents turn discarded films and wrappers into vibrant, handcrafted bags and mats—a grassroots upcycling movement that empowers women and creates livelihood. Meanwhile, startups such as RiverRecycle in Finland intercept river-borne plastics globally for conversion into durable boards, helping intercept waste before it reaches oceans

These stories show how recycling and upcycling are global—ranging from high-tech plants to community crafts—but each offers pathways for plastic to live a second life.

Spotlight: Soft Plastics & LDPE—Tackling the Toughest Waste

The Problem with Soft Plastics & LDPE

Soft plastics—usually made from Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE)—include grocery bags, food wraps, film packaging, and shrink wraps. Despite their ubiquity, soft plastics are notoriously hard to recycle: they jam sorting machinery, are lightweight, and often contaminated by food residue or multilingual materials Globally, LDPE recycling rates are painfully low—under 8%—limiting its diversion from landfills 

In Australia, the REDcycle soft-plastics collection program (2010–2022) aimed to recover these materials via supermarket drop-off points. But systemic issues—dependency on one recycler and resulting stockpiling—led to insolvency. At its height, REDcycle recycled less than 2% of soft plastics; most continued to landfill or were stockpiled, leading to an environmental and fire risk. Recent efforts are seeking to revive soft-plastics recycling under Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes backed by retailers and manufacturers.

Engineering Soft-Plastic Recycling: The Technical Pathway

Despite hurdles, soft-plastic recycling follows an evolving industrial path:

1. Collection — Communities or retailers collect LDPE films at drop points.
2. Sorting & Baling — Materials are cleaned, sorted, then compressed into bales for transport.
3. Cleaning & Shredding — Films are washed, shredded into flakes.
4. Melting & Pelletizing — Flakes are melted and extruded into pellets for reuse.

These recycled pellets can then be transformed into new products: trash bags, plastic lumber, composite decking, pipes, mats, drainage tiles, traffic cones, pallets, and asphalt additives A pilot in Oregon turned supermarket film waste into pellets for making durable trash bags and composite lumber, demonstrating practical reuse

The Path Ahead: Scaling Solutions and Closing Loops

For meaningful progress with soft-plastic and LDPE waste, complementary strategies are essential:

• EPR & Policy Incentives — Holding producers accountable financially spurs collection and recycling infrastructure. Australia’s recent industry pledge on soft plastics is one such model. Ensuring the industry makes the effort to recycle or transform plastics in country rather than resorting to landfilling or exporting waste.
• Innovation Across the Value Chain — Continued R&D into AI sorting, clean mechanical recycling, novel catalysts, and structural material use cases is vital.
• Community-Led Circularity — Grassroots upcycling not only diverts waste but drives social inclusion and local economies—powerful complements to industrial systems.
• Investment in Upcycling Innovations and Facilities — A critical driver for progress in plastic recycling and upcycling—particularly for soft plastics and LDPE—is the growing collaboration between industry and government to support innovation and deeptech start-ups. Around the world, governments are providing grants, tax incentives, and regulatory frameworks such as Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) to encourage companies to invest in novel solutions.

Industry players are increasingly partnering with innovators and funding pilots that test breakthrough technologies, from advanced chemical recycling to upcycling of flexible films into higher-value products. Initiatives like the EU’s Horizon programs, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Plastics Innovation Challenge, and similar schemes in Asia and Oceania have seeded start-ups developing catalytic depolymerization, AI-enabled sorting, and new uses for recycled LDPE. 

This alignment of public policy and private capital is accelerating commercialization, helping young companies overcome scale-up hurdles while bringing circular economy solutions closer to the mainstream.

Together, these efforts can turn soft-plastic waste from a rising environmental hazard into a resource flexible enough for circular, design-led, and socially conscious futures.

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