EU delays approval of recycling processes in food contact applications

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According to European Plastics Converters (EuPC), Brussels, more than nine years have passed since the publication of the regulation (EC) No. 282/2008, which set up the rules on the use of recycled plastic materials in food-contact applications. To this date, the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has adopted more than 140 positive scientific opinions on the safety of processes to recycle plastics for use in food-contact materials. Following these opinions, the European Commission is in a position to officially authorize the evaluated processes. However, it has not taken any initiative in that direction so far, the organization says.

The absence of EU legal framework prolongs the lack of harmonization among member states, EuPC says, and generates legal uncertainty and unnecessary burden for the industry regarding the use of recycled materials.

Casper van den Dungen, Brussels-based Plastics Recyclers Europe (PRE) vice president and chairman of the PET (polyethylene terephthalate) Working Group, says, “More than €500 million ($586 million) have been invested by companies in plants which can transform recycled plastic materials into materials suitable for packaging and food-contact applications. In 2014, more than 50 percent 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 also asked for the action by the European Commission.   Christian Crépet, executive director of Brussels-based Petcore Europe, says, “Food-contact development is subject to clear regulations. Although PET is one of the most widely recycled polymers, 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.

Alexandre Dangis, managing director of EuPC, says, “In order to realize 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.”

“Natural mineral and spring water producers are important users of recycled plastic,” says Patricia Fosselard, secretary general of the Brussels-based European Federation of Bottled Waters (EFBW). “Having a harmonized European framework on recycling processes will pave the way for greater use of recycled plastic and foster circular economy while bringing legal certainty to recyclers and users alike.”

EuPC says the PET value chain urges the commission to authorize recycling processes positively evaluated by EFSA. “This authorization would ensure harmonization 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,” the organization says in a press release it issued jointly with PRE, Petcore Europe and EFBW.