TY - JOUR
T1 - Safety assessment of the process Plastrec, based on the Polymetrix technology, used to recycle post-consumer PET into food contact materials
AU - EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP)
AU - Lambré, Claude
AU - Barat Baviera, José Manuel
AU - Bolognesi, Claudia
AU - Chesson, Andrew
AU - Cocconcelli, Pier Sandro
AU - Crebelli, Riccardo
AU - Gott, David Michael
AU - Grob, Konrad
AU - Mengelers, Marcel
AU - Mortensen, Alicja
AU - Rivière, Gilles
AU - Steffensen, Inger Lise
AU - Tlustos, Christina
AU - Van Loveren, Henk
AU - Vernis, Laurence
AU - Zorn, Holger
AU - Dudler, Vincent
AU - Milana, Maria Rosaria
AU - Papaspyrides, Constantine
AU - Poças, Maria de Fátima Tavares
AU - Lioupis, Alexandros
AU - Lampi, Evgenia
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 European Food Safety Authority. EFSA Journal published by Wiley-VCH GmbH on behalf of European Food Safety Authority.
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process Plastrec (EU register number RECYC288), which uses the Polymetrix technology. The input material consists of hot washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, e.g. bottles, including no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are extruded to pellets, crystallised and subsequently decontaminated in a solid-state polycondensation (SSP) reactor under high temperature and gas flow. Having examined the challenge tests provided, the Panel concluded that the fourth step, the decontamination in the SSP reactor, is critical in determining the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance of this critical step are temperature, gas velocity and residence time. It was demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure a level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is not considered to be of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs, including drinking water, for long-term storage at room temperature or below, with or without hotfill. The final articles made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave or conventional ovens and such uses are not covered by this evaluation.
AB - The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process Plastrec (EU register number RECYC288), which uses the Polymetrix technology. The input material consists of hot washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, e.g. bottles, including no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are extruded to pellets, crystallised and subsequently decontaminated in a solid-state polycondensation (SSP) reactor under high temperature and gas flow. Having examined the challenge tests provided, the Panel concluded that the fourth step, the decontamination in the SSP reactor, is critical in determining the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance of this critical step are temperature, gas velocity and residence time. It was demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure a level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food below the conservatively modelled migration of 0.1 μg/kg food. Therefore, the Panel concluded that the recycled PET obtained from this process is not considered to be of safety concern, when used at up to 100% for the manufacture of materials and articles for contact with all types of foodstuffs, including drinking water, for long-term storage at room temperature or below, with or without hotfill. The final articles made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave or conventional ovens and such uses are not covered by this evaluation.
KW - Food contact materials
KW - Plastic
KW - Plastrec Inc.
KW - Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)
KW - Polymetrix
KW - Recycling process
KW - Safety assessment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85166778673&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8149
DO - 10.2903/j.efsa.2023.8149
M3 - Article
C2 - 37539082
AN - SCOPUS:85166778673
SN - 1831-4732
VL - 21
JO - EFSA Journal
JF - EFSA Journal
IS - 8
M1 - e08149
ER -