End of Life
End of Life
Flexible packaging films are widely used due to their cost-effectiveness and excellent product protection qualities. By reducing product spoilage and damage, they significantly reduce waste across the packaged goods supply chain. However, their lightweight design, frequent use of mixed materials, potential for food contamination, and the presence of inks and adhesives, can render conventional mechanical recycling methods largely impractical. Combined with further challenges in collecting and sorting such materials, it means that incineration or landfill remain the most common and cost-effective end-of-life outcomes.
Designed with end-of-life in mind, NatureFlex™ can be composted at home, or collected by local authorities for industrial composting, where accepted, together with bio-waste collections. Compostable packaging can help to divert organic waste from landfill or incineration, when it is contaminated with food residues, and composting in turn returns valuable nutrients and carbon back to soils thereby improving soil health.
We are committed to expanding the end-of-life possibilities for our products. While NatureFlex™ is optimised for composting, we are actively exploring emerging advanced recycling technologies to support a multi-pathway approach to sustainable waste management.
For further information on each individual end-of-life option for NatureFlex™, click on the buttons below:
Industrial Composting
Industrial composting is a controlled process for transforming biodegradable waste into stable products used in agriculture. It involves two key phases:
- Active Phase: Micro-organisms break down the organic matter into carbon dioxide (CO2), water and humus, generating heat with temperatures typically between 50 and 60°
- Curing Phase: In this phase, decomposition slows, temperatures drop, and humus is formed.
Common technologies include windrow composting, aerated static piles, tunnel composting and in-vessel composting.
All NatureFlex™ grades are EN13432 certified, making them suitable for industrial composting. Composting plays a vital role in restoring soil health, supporting nutrient cycling, carbon sequestration, and food production.
Interested to know more about the EN13432 standard? Watch our video!
To demonstrate the compatibility of certified industrially compostable bioplastics in industrial composting settings, Futamura, and other stakeholders, took part in a 2-year study as part of the Compostable Coalition UK, funded by the UKRI.
Watch the video below to find out more!
Ambient (Home or backyard) Composting
Where industrial composting is a controlled process which allows the decomposition of organic waste under managed conditions with respect to temperature and oxygen, home composting refers to the cooler, smaller-scale, aerobic breakdown of organic waste – more closely resembling soil degradation.
A common method used in home composting is the ‘slow-stack’ technique, whereby organic materials are gradually added to the composting bin or vessel and, over time, the material naturally decomposes to form nutrient-rich compost.
Home composting is particularly suited to garden waste and uncooked food scraps and is popular in countries where many households have access to gardens. Several bioplastic films are suitable for home composting, including all NatureFlex™ grades, but certain other bioplastic films are not suitable due to the requirement of higher temperatures, making them only suited to industrial composting.
By using home compostable packaging, such as NatureFlex™, households can help increase organic recycling rates – a crucial step, as over 50% of the EU’s 59 million tonnes of food waste produced annually is generated at the household level.1
Certified home compostable packaging is especially suited to substitute packaging in applications often heavily contaminated with food or grease. Such contamination hinders conventional mechanical recycling processes which often results in these items being landfilled or incinerated. Home compostable packaging allows the packaging to be composted together with food waste – returning valuable nutrients and biogenic carbon to the soil, and supporting the growth of new biomass, thereby closing the loop.
Watch our timelapse to see NatureFlex™ degrade under home composting conditions within 12 weeks!
1 European Commission, Food Waste
Anaerobic Digestion
In an anaerobic digester, organic matter is degraded by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen and produces a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide and compost, but it is not an exothermic process. The biogas produced (carbon dioxide and methane) can be:
- Treated in a combined heat and power plant to produce electricity and steam, or
- Upgraded to biomethane, a renewable gas suitable for use as a fuel, or injection into the national grid.
Anaerobic digestion (AD) is suitable for organic waste with high moisture content such as kitchen or food waste. Certified compostable packaging, including all NatureFlex™ grades, can accompany this waste stream, either facilitating or at minimum following the organic recovery process. As of 2025, there are currently 756 operational AD plants in the UK, with AD playing an important role in the generation of renewable energy.
All NatureFlex™ grades are suitable for anaerobic digestion.
For additional information please see:
Incineration (EfW)
The incineration of municipal solid waste exploits the energy content of the material and reduces the amount of material to be landfilled. The technology is also called thermal recovery or incineration with energy reclamation.
There are two types of energy from waste (EfW) systems:
- Mass burn systems: The input is unsorted municipal solid waste with no pre-treatment.
- Refuse derived fuel systems: Municipal solid waste is sorted prior to input to ensure a defined quality of input material.
To address environmental concerns, The Waste Incineration Directive (2010/76/EC) was designed to prevent or limit negative effects on the environment due to incineration. Very high temperatures must now be achieved to ensure complete combustion and there are strict limits on plant incineration emissions to air.
Where other end-of-life options are unavailable, such as organic or advanced recycling technologies, incineration with energy recovery is considered the next best option for bioplastics, according to the EU waste hierarchy. NatureFlex™ films are suitable for incineration with energy recovery and will provide a calorific value comparable to wood. Importantly, upon incineration, the CO₂ released during combustion is biogenic—originally absorbed by plants during growth—so no additional fossil carbon is added to the atmosphere. This supports the shift toward a Net Zero economy and highlights a key advantage of bio-based materials over fossil-derived plastics.
Landfill
Landfills are designated burial sites for waste disposal. Modern sanitary landfills, also known as “dry tombs”, are engineered to be sealed off, preventing oxygen and moisture from entering, while controlling leachate (liquid runoff) and gaseous emissions.
A key environmental concern with landfills is the generation of landfill gas, primarily methane, produced during the slow biodegradation of organic materials. Some landfills, known as bioreactor landfills, are designed to accelerate this process and capture the methane for use as an energy source.
Under the Waste Framework directive (2008/98/EC)Member States are required to develop strategies for waste prevention. Landfill is one of the least preferred methods of waste management in the hierarchy of waste treatment methods. It also states that measures should be taken to divert bio waste towards composting or digestion.
Testing has shown that bioplastic films, including NatureFlex™, remain inert in a landfill environment and do not biodegrade due to the low moisture content present.
For additional information, please see below
Mechanical Recycling
Mechanical recycling is a method by which waste materials are recycled into ‘new’ materials that have the same basic structure. The waste material is sorted, either manually or automatically, to separate the different materials. The different material streams are then cleaned and ground, prior to re-melting and being formed back into granules. The resulting recyclates can then be processed into new products.
Mechanical recycling is a well-established technology for conventional plastics, such as polyethylene and polyester, particularly for rigid bottles. There is much less film recycling, partly due to the light-weight nature of flexible materials, and so, unfortunately, they have less value. In addition, filmic structures are often multi-layer materials, which can make separation of the different components difficult. Contamination, such as food and grease, is also an issue for mechanical recycling.
NatureFlex™ films are not suitable for mechanical recycling due to the fact that they are not thermoplastic materials.
For additional information please see below
Paper Recycling
NatureFlex™ was designed with organic recycling in mind, therefore, these forms of recycling remain the best end of life options for NatureFlex™, such as industrial composting or anaerobic digestion. As a non-thermoplastic material, NatureFlex™ does not melt, meaning it is not compatible with standard mechanical recycling processes, however, we recognise that a range of newer advanced recycling technologies are emerging – many of which could be suited to NatureFlex™. As a result, we are actively collaborating with external companies that specialise in advanced recycling technologies to assess the recyclability of NatureFlex™ in a range of systems.
Get in Touch
Want to learn more about how Futamura cellulose based solutions can bring you closer to your sustainability goals?
Contact our technical team today!