What are soft plastics?

Soft plastics are a significant and often overlooked component of commercial waste streams. While rigid plastics such as bottles and containers are widely recognised and recycled, flexible plastic materials are still frequently misunderstood and disposed of incorrectly.

For businesses, this can lead to avoidable contamination, higher disposal costs, and lost opportunities to recover valuable recyclable material. Understanding what soft plastics are, where they appear in the workplace, and how they can be recycled is a key step in building a compliant and economically sound waste management strategy.

This helpful guide explains the nature of soft plastic and outlines how we help businesses divert these materials from landfill and prepare them for genuine recycling outcomes.

Understanding soft plastics

Soft plastics are flexible plastic materials that can be bent, scrunched, or stretched without breaking or holding a fixed shape. Common examples we encounter on a daily basis might include carrier bags, food pouches, cling film, and gift wrap.

They differ from rigid plastics in both physical behaviour and chemical composition, which has implications for how they must be handled and processed once they enter the waste stream.

Most soft plastic is produced from polyethylene and polypropylene polymers, particularly low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polypropylene (PP). These materials are valued for their flexibility, durability, moisture resistance, and low weight, making them ideal for protective packaging and wrapping.

However, these same properties can present challenges when it comes to recycling.

In commercial settings, soft plastics are rarely single-purpose or single-layer materials. Instead, they are often engineered to deliver multiple performance benefits, such as improved barrier protection, tear resistance, or extended shelf life. This complexity plays a key role in why soft plastics require specialist recycling solutions.

Where you’ll find soft plastics in the workplace

Soft plastics are widely used across UK businesses, often as an integral part of day-to-day operations. Because these materials are lightweight and flexible, they are frequently overlooked within waste streams, despite being generated in significant volumes. Here are some of the types of workplaces where you might find soft plastics.

Logistics and distribution

Here, soft plastic plays a crucial role in protecting goods during storage and transit. Pallet wrap and stretch film are used extensively to prevent damage and reduce product loss across supply chains. These materials are typically single-use and can accumulate quickly in high-throughput warehouse settings.

Retail and e-commerce

These businesses rely heavily on soft plastics to move products efficiently from warehouse to customer. Mailing bags, carrier bags, and protective wraps are commonplace, particularly in fulfilment and returns operations. With increasing order volumes, these plastics form a growing part of commercial waste outputs.

Manufacturing

Manufacturing sites generate substantial quantities of soft plastics through the use of shrink wrap and protective films. These materials are used to safeguard machinery parts and finished products during handling and transport. As production volumes increase, so too does the volume of flexible plastic packaging waste.

Food and beverage

Soft plastic is widely used here in secondary and tertiary packaging. Liners, wrapping films, and flexible pouches help maintain hygiene standards and protect products throughout processing and distribution. However, contact with food residues can increase contamination risk if these materials are not correctly segregated.

Agriculture and horticulture

Agriculture and horticulture introduce another stream of soft plastics through crop protection films, plant coverings and storage materials. These flexible plastics are essential for growing and protecting produce but can be challenging to manage once they reach the end of their useful life.

The material complexity of soft plastic

From a recycling perspective, soft plastic is rarely straightforward. While they are predominantly made from LDPE and PP, many flexible packaging products consist of multiple polymer layers bonded together. These layers may include different types of polyethylene, polypropylene, nylon, or other barrier materials.

This layered construction improves packaging performance but complicates recycling. Each polymer has a different melting point and processing requirement, meaning mixed or bonded materials cannot always be recycled through conventional mechanical processes without careful sorting and preparation.

In addition to polymer complexity, soft plastics often carry adhesives, inks, labels or residues that further affect recyclability. Moisture content is also a critical factor, as damp films can degrade bale quality and reduce downstream processing efficiency.

These factors explain why soft plastics cannot simply be treated in the same way as rigid plastic packaging. Without appropriate handling, they can cause blockages in machinery, contaminate other recyclables and reduce overall recovery rates.

The cost of failing to divert soft plastics

When soft plastics are not correctly separated, the consequences extend beyond environmental impact. One of the most significant issues is contamination. Soft plastics mixed into paper or cardboard streams can render entire loads unsuitable for recycling, leading to rejection by reprocessors and increased disposal costs.

Similarly, food-contaminated films or moisture-laden plastics can compromise the quality of plastic bales, reducing their market value or preventing them from being recycled at all. For businesses, this results in higher waste management costs and reduced recycling rebates.

There’s also a broader economic impact. When recyclable soft plastic is disposed of via landfill or energy-from-waste routes, the material value embedded in those polymers is permanently lost. This undermines circular economy objectives and increases reliance on virgin plastic production.

By contrast, well-segregated soft plastics that are processed correctly can form a valuable feedstock for recycling markets, contributing to more stable pricing and improved sustainability performance.