The American Chemistry Council's Flexible Film Recycling Group, working with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Sustainable Packaging Coalition, Bemis, SC Johnson, and Trex, initiated the Wrap Recycling Action Program (WRAP) in 2013 as a pilot to increase post-consumer polyethylene bag, wrap, and film recycling through coordinated consumer education and retail collection partnerships.
WRAP addressed a persistent recovery gap: polyethylene film recycling had surpassed one billion pounds annually in the United States, yet most curbside programs still excluded flexible films due to MRF sorting challenges. Store drop-off collection at grocery and retail locations remained the primary consumer pathway for clean PE film recovery.
The Flexible Film Recycling Group had set an industry goal to double PE film recycling by 2017 from a 2013 baseline, reflecting confidence that expanded collection access, commercial stretch film recovery, and end-market demand for recycled PE lumber and composite products could sustain growth trajectories documented in annual Moore Recycling reports.
For flexible packaging converters, WRAP's 2013 launch reinforced that brand owner sustainability commitments increasingly included film take-back partnerships and on-pack recycling messaging tied to store drop-off programs rather than municipal blue-bin assumptions.
Equipment and material suppliers noted WRAP-aligned programs created downstream pull for consistent PE film bale quality—indirectly supporting converter sales of recyclable mono-PE mailers and all-PE structures designed for compatibility with existing film reprocessing infrastructure where multi-material laminates remained excluded.