North London Waste Authority has warned that the UK lacks the infrastructure to recycle flexible plastics ahead of mandatory kerbside collections in 2027, risking stockpiles, exports and rising costs unless the government intervenesThe UK lacks the recycling infrastructure to recycle flexible plastics once mandatory kerbside collections begin in 2027, North London Waste Authority (NLWA) has warned. Cllr Clyde Loakes MBE, NLWA chair, said: "Unless the production of flexible plastics is greatly reduced in tandem with investment in infrastructure, much of the flexible plastic collected from people's homes will end up in a warehouse or on a container ship somewhere." Projections suggest that by 2030, only 200,000 tonnes of the 1.7 million tonnes of flexible plastics placed on the UK market each year will be captured from households through kerbside collections. Infrastructure capacity concernsNLWA’s warning follows the publication of The Flexible Plastic Fund’s recent report ‘The future of recycling flexible plastic packaging in the UK’. The trial found that flexible plastic collections can be successfully integrated into existing services, but confirms that the UK lacks processing capacity to cope with the expected demand.