The European Union is yet to authorise processes for recycling plastics for use in food contact applications, presenting an obstacle to the plastics Circular Economy.
PET bottles
It has been nearly a decade since the publication of Regulation (EC) No. 282/2008 establishing the rules on the use of recycled plastic materials in food applications, and to date the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has adopted more than 140 positive scientific analyses on the safety of processes to recycle polymers for food contact applications.
Even with opinions positioning the European Commission to officially authorise these technologies, the EU has not yet taken any initiative in this direction thus far.
This is a cause of frustration for the PET industry, which is trying to promote circularity within the PET product processing sector.
"More than €500 million have been invested by companies in plants which can transform recycled plastic materials into materials suitable for packaging and food contact applications," said Casper van den Dungen, PRE Vice-President and Chairman of the PET Working Group. "In 2014, more than 50 per cent of the recycled PET in Europe was used in food contact applications. But EU businesses are still in a legislative no-man’s land due to years of delay. This uncertainty leads to decline in investments and more importantly to a possible mistrust in the legislation ruling food contact materials."
Other organizations from across the value chain joined the call. Christian Crépet, Executive Director of Petcore Europe, added:
"Food contact development is subject to clear regulations. Although PET is one of the most widely recycled polymer, the absence of regulation results in a lack of market visibility for sales of recycled PET. This situation affects the whole value chain from virgin production up to waste management. Investment is down and the "bottle-to-bottle" activity should be facilitated."
The PET value chain urges the Commission to authorise recycling processes positively evaluated by EFSA. This authorisation would ensure harmonisation of the market and remove any legal uncertainty in trading recycled materials in food contact applications. It will also enable to drive circular economy for plastics by opening new markets for plastics recyclates.
Alexandre Dangis, Managing Director, EuPC added: "In order to realise a real circular economy in the European Union we ask the EU Commission to unlock this bureaucratic situation very urgently. Industry needs to remain competitive at global level and very important investments have been made by hundreds of companies in Europe to comply with this EU regulation."
