One of the major issues in the plastics industry is the use of recycled plastic in food contact packaging. This primarily concerns the safety of this material for use with food, meaning if it’s fit to come into direct or indirect contact with foods using functional barriers. Another concern is the large volume of plastic waste from the packaging industry in general and food packaging specifically. Addressing this waste stream will promote recycling and sustainability.
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Now that the Commission Regulation (EU) 2022/1616 on recycled plastic materials and other items that can come into contact with foods is in force, the volume of recycled food-grade plastics is expected to increase. One of the regulation’s key points is suitable recycling technologies and novel technologies. The former refers to post-consumer mechanical PET recycling and recycling from product loops in a closed and controlled chain. The aim is to increase and standardise the different technologies authorised in Commission Regulation (EU) 282/2008, facilitating new individual authorisations based on what has already been authorised.
The industry’s biggest challenge is developing new technologies that can be used to manufacture plastics for safe contact with food. This can be anything that isn't yet considered suitable, such as mechanical recycling of any material other than PET, chemical recycling of any polymer, physical recycling (using solvents) and functional barriers. The latter are no longer safe under the new regulation and require authorisation to be placed on the market.
Today, recycled plastic can only be introduced in direct contact with products made of PET or through closed and controlled loops. Bottles, trays and other products with up to 100% recycled PET content are available on the market. However, the volume of recycled PET currently available is too low to cover all the industry’s needs. This is why this technology is suitable under the current regulations.
Recycled materials other than PET are often found in contact with food, such as polyolefins (mainly HDPE and PP) from closed and controlled loops. Products with recycled polyolefins include fruit and vegetable crates and food drums. These would require authorisation from the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) under the previous regulation but are allowed under the current one.
Several novel technologies have been submitted to EFSA. Some are functional barrier processes for PET and polystyrene (PS), where the effectiveness of the barrier layers must be ensured by migration tests and assessments of homogeneity over time and in the results. Polyolefin decontamination technologies have also been submitted to EFSA to validate an efficient decontamination technology for these materials, as well as physical recycling processes by dissolution of PS.
AIMPLAS works with different companies and its developments in assorted studies to decontaminate these materials through challenge tests. It also provides advice to companies collaborating on the reports required to obtain EFSA authorisation for functional barrier structures in PET and decontamination of different polymers.