Safety assessment of the process deSter, used to recycle plastic catering tableware for use as food contact materials

The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process deSter (EU register number RECYC196). The input consists of catering tableware food contact articles from airline on-board services, made of polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), styrene acrylonitrile resin (SAN) or acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The recyclate produced by deSter will be used to manufacture articles for the same on-board services. The Panel considered that the management system put in place to ensure compliance of the origin of the input with Commission Regulation (EC) No 282/2008 and to provide full traceability from input to final product is the critical process step. The process deSter uses only materials and articles intended for food contact and ensures that any contamination can be ruled out, since the input originates from this product loop managed in a closed and controlled chain. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled materials obtained from this process and used within this loop are not of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of plastic tableware for contact with all types of foodstuffs under the conditions of use of the articles before recycling.