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Thus, FPA and its members are particularly interested in solving the plastic pollution issue and <br />increasing the recycling of solid waste from packaging. We do not believe that HB1316, as <br />written, will accomplish these goals. Flexible packaging is in a unique situation as it is one of the <br />most environmentally sustainable packaging types from a water and energy consumption, <br />product-to-package ratio, transportation efficiency, food waste, and greenhouse gas emissions <br />reduction standpoint, but circularity options are limited. There is no single solution that can be <br />applied to all communities when it comes to the best way to collect, sort, and process flexible <br />packaging waste. Viability is influenced by existing equipment and infrastructure; material <br />collection methods and rates; volume and mix; and demand for the recovered material. Single <br />material flexible packaging, which is approximately half of the flexible packaging waste <br />generated, can be mechanically recycled through store drop-off programs, however, end-markets <br />are scarce. The other half can be used to generate new feedstock, whether through pyrolysis, <br />gasification, or fuel blending, but again, if there are no end markets for the product, these efforts <br />will be stranded. <br /> <br />Developing end-of-life solutions for flexible packaging is a work in progress and FPA is <br />partnering with other manufacturers, recyclers, retailers, waste management companies, brand <br />owners, and other organizations to continue making strides toward total packaging recovery. <br />Some examples include The Recycling Partnership; the Materials Recovery for the Future <br />(MRFF) <br />Recycling Program. All of these programs seek to increase the collection and recycling of <br />flexible packaging and increasing the recycled content of new products that will not only create <br />markets for the products but will serve as a policy driver for the creation of new collection, <br />sortation, and processing infrastructure for the valuable materials that make up flexible <br />packaging. <br /> <br />FPA believes that a suite of options is needed to address the lack of infrastructure for non-readily <br />recyclable packaging materials, and promotion and support of market development for recycled <br />products is an important lever to build that infrastructure. We also believe that EPR can be used <br />to promote this needed shift in recycling in the U.S. In fact, FPA worked with the Product <br />Stewardship Institute (PSI) and have jointly drafted a set of principles to guide EPR for flexible <br />packaging (https://www.flexpack.org/end-of-packaging-life). This dialogue, which looked at the <br />problems and opportunities for EPR to address the needs of the flexible packaging industry to <br /> <br />