FDA approves NextLoopp’s food-grade recycled polypropylene

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a letter of no objection for a proprietary recycling process for recycled polypropylene (rPP) by NextLoopp, a global project by London-based Nextek Ltd.

After a review of NextLoopp’s recycling process and feedstock controls, the FDA concluded that the system is expected to produce suitable purity rPP if the feedstock is sourced from compliant food-contact articles.

The letter, logged as Prenotification Consultation No. 3291, confirms the process meets requirements for direct food contact and authorizes NextLoopp’s rPP for use at levels up to 100 percent. It has clearance to be used across all food types and under Conditions of Use A-H, which ranges from frozen storage to high-temperature heat sterilization.

NextLoopp says it is continuing its progress with the European Food Safety Authority and is already able to place resin on the European Union and United Kingdom markets prior to the organization’s formal process.

“This marks a defining moment for food-grade recycled polypropylene,” says Edward Kosior, founder and managing director of United Kingdom-based consultancy Nextek. “It validates the scientific rigor of our technology and provides brand owners and converters with complete confidence to use NextLoopp rPP in direct food-contact packaging with all food types over a very wide range of usage conditions.”