TY - JOUR
T1 - Safety assessment of the process Société Générale de Recyclage (SGR), based on the VACUNITE (EREMA basic and Polymetrix SSP V-leaN) 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:
© 2022 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KgaA on behalf of the European Food Safety Authority.
PY - 2022/5
Y1 - 2022/5
N2 - The EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP) assessed the safety of the recycling process Société Générale de Recyclage (SGR) (EU register number RECYC201), which uses the VACUNITE (EREMA basic and Polymetrix SSP V-leaN) technology. The input material is hot caustic washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes mainly originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, including no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are heated in a continuous reactor under vacuum before being extruded and pelletised. The crystallised pellets are then preheated and submitted to solid-state polycondensation (SSP) in a continuous reactor at high temperature under vacuum and gas flow. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the continuous reactor (step 3) and the SSP reactor (step 5) are critical in determining the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance are temperature, pressure and residence time for steps 3 and 5 as well as velocity of inert gas for step 5. It was demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is 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 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, with or without hotfill. The final articles made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave and 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 Société Générale de Recyclage (SGR) (EU register number RECYC201), which uses the VACUNITE (EREMA basic and Polymetrix SSP V-leaN) technology. The input material is hot caustic washed and dried poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) flakes mainly originating from collected post-consumer PET containers, including no more than 5% PET from non-food consumer applications. The flakes are heated in a continuous reactor under vacuum before being extruded and pelletised. The crystallised pellets are then preheated and submitted to solid-state polycondensation (SSP) in a continuous reactor at high temperature under vacuum and gas flow. Having examined the challenge test provided, the Panel concluded that the continuous reactor (step 3) and the SSP reactor (step 5) are critical in determining the decontamination efficiency of the process. The operating parameters to control the performance are temperature, pressure and residence time for steps 3 and 5 as well as velocity of inert gas for step 5. It was demonstrated that this recycling process is able to ensure that the level of migration of potential unknown contaminants into food is 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 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, with or without hotfill. The final articles made of this recycled PET are not intended to be used in microwave and conventional ovens and such uses are not covered by this evaluation.
KW - Food contact materials
KW - Plastic
KW - Poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET)
KW - Recycling process
KW - Safety assessment
KW - SGR
KW - VACUNITE (EREMA basic and Polymetrix SSP V-leaN)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85131565962&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7270
DO - 10.2903/j.efsa.2022.7270
M3 - Article
C2 - 35582367
AN - SCOPUS:85131565962
SN - 1831-4732
VL - 20
JO - EFSA Journal
JF - EFSA Journal
IS - 5
M1 - e07270
ER -